Climate Group Uses Superyacht as a Billboard for Tax Messages
In a direct action on London's Canary Wharf last week, activist group Climate Resistance lit up the side of a luxurious superyacht with messages promoting taxation and climate action.
The laser-light text snippets were projected onto the starboard side of the superyacht Lady Christine, a 2010-built vessel that was custom-made by Feadship for Scottish businessman Lord Irvine Laidlaw. While the light messages did no damage to the vessel, they were unflattering to the superyacht community at large, including slogans like "wealth tax now," "abolish billionaires," and "seize me," among others.
Lord Laidlaw is a former industry-conference and real estate entrepreneur, and he resides in Monaco and South Africa. He is well known as a philanthropist, a race-car collector, and an offshore racing enthusiast, with more than a dozen large sailing yachts to his name over the decades. In 2010, he was one of five foreign-resident members of the House of Lords who stepped down after the passage of legislation that would have required them to register in the UK and pay British taxes; all five were allowed to retain their titles.
The 68-meter, $70 million Lady Christine is named after Lord Laidlaw's wife, Lady Christine Laidlaw. The couple had owned a previous yacht bearing the same name, and together they were "intrinsically involved in every step of the project," according to the shipyard - even down to the level of minor interior details "such as door sensors for their dogs."
The yacht underwent a six-month, multimillion-dollar refit involving 200 workers in Australia in 2021. It was wrapped in plastic for the massive job, the largest such wrap in Australian history, yard manager Con Beldie told local media at the time.
Climate Resistance has objections to this form of economic activity; if the group's position wasn't clear enough from the Canary Wharf action, an accompanying message on social media elaborated on the brief text.