Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry says recommissioning the Royal Yacht Britannia could be just what the country needs to unite after Brexit.

The MP has said the vessel would boost the UK’s international trade and heal divisions within Britain which have been exposed as the government attempts to leave the European Union.

Mr Berry - whose Rossendale constituency lies more than 40 miles from the nearest port - previously floated the idea back in 2016.

In an interview with Parliament magazine The House , Mr Berry said recommissioning the yacht could be a chance to “bring our country back together”.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

He has speculated that such a project would help drive the UK’s overseas trade policy outside the European Union.

He told the magazine that rebuilding the Royal Yacht is not government policy. However, he believes that it could “play a role in driving international trade” in post-Brexit Britain.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

“Things like that can provide new symbols of unity that we could potentially use to bring our country back together, something we could be proud of, something we could unite behind,” he adds.

The Queen’s former yacht Britannia was in service between 1954 and 1997.

(Image: Daily Record)

Prince Charles and Princess Diana spent their honeymoon abroad the vessel, as did Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon.

It was decommissioned more than 20 years ago and has since been docked in Leith, in Edinburgh, where it has acted as a tourist attraction ever since.