IN her latest video column, National contributor Lesley Riddoch discusses the UK Government's plan to push on with the creation of a £200m national flagship, named after the late Prince Philip, despite the royal family's concern that the idea is "too grand".

And the UK Government website makes no mention of where the £10m annual running costs are to be found - maybe from the easily raided Foreign Aid budget. Is this bit of distraction doomed to reappear every four years until a Russian oligarch takes the bait and pays for it?