Britain’s new aircraft carriers to cost £1 billion more

The cost of building the Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers is set to rise by another £1 billion at least.

The final cost of building HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales could rise to £7 billion, up from the £5.2 billion stated in the contract.

The cost increase is due to the need to convert the last carrier to include catapults and an arrester-wire system.