SIR: The reporting of the political fighting over the building of a new Royal yacht seems to be missing the most serious issue of the whole "debate".

The Government has decreed that all the funding for the replacement yacht will come from the public despite the use of the yacht for the promotion of certain businesses. This decree comes at a time when police forces are having to sponsor cars in order to provide a decent standard of service to the taxpayers. Surely some of the £60 million costs of a new royal yacht could be put to better use, paying for an adequate police service to help protect the public from the rising tide of crime. The need to raise sponsorship to pay for the police is not only morally dubious but, in some cases, it totally contradicts the job of the police. One sponsored police car pictured in a newspaper showed that it had been paid for by a national alcohol retailer. What message does this send to drink drivers and the relatives of their victims?

Michael Ord

Elmwood Close, Over Hulton, Bolton

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