Just over 3 years ago our nation was given the opportunity to vote and now we are at the end of the process. The boat that today is being launched is the one we were invited to vote to name back in April 2016. The nation voted overwhelmingly for it to be called Boaty McBoatface and today because the public voted overwhelmingly for the boat to be called Boaty McBoatface, it will be launched with a slightly different name: RRS Sir David Attenborough!

At the time of the vote, Jo Johnson who was then a Minister spoke very directly about the views of the public, stating that there were “more suitable” names. However after a great deal of reaction from the millions of people who had voted for the name, it was agreed that one of the unmanned submarines on board RRS Sir David Attenborough could be named Boaty McBoatface in an attempt to satisfy the people who voted. The fact that we voted for something else and that the name makes no sense, the Government could not be bothered to ask the public if they should instead name it as Subby McSubface or something that would be a better match than calling a Submarine a Boat. It is fascinating how the name of a small boat had to be treated with so much change, yet the referendum over our nations connection with 27 other nations and our impact amongst 60 more that is clearly “totally unsuitable” given the challenges that have arisen over the last 3 years is treated as though nothing can be done to offer an alternative approach. Rather than reconnect with the public over Brexit McBrexitface and come up with a better match, Jo’s brother is taking us over a cliff with a guarantee that we will end up losing sight of the nations credibility in the same way as the people on RSS Sir David Attenborough will lose sight of Boaty McBoatface whenever it is working!