$279m Royal Yacht a 'Good Idea'

The British government's plans to build a 200 million pound ($276.3 million) successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was retired in 1997, are a good idea, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said on Monday.

"I think it is a good idea actually," Kwarteng told Sky, though he said there was still a discussion in government over the plans. "It's a huge amount of money."

"What it does is it represents Britain - it is a symbol of Britain and if you are going on trade missions - that is exactly the way we would drive trade," he said. 

(Reuters reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Michael Holden)