Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had recent discussions with his (a) French and (b) German counterparts on conventional submarine cooperation with Argentina.

The Secretary of State and the wider Ministry of Defence regularly engage with our French and German allies on a range of issues. The Ministry of Defence is committed to maintaining a defensive military presence in the South Atlantic to ensure the protection of the Falkland Islands. Our defences in the South Atlantic are robust, consisting of air, land, and maritime forces with a strong permanent presence on the Falkland Islands. I am confident that our military presence is at the appropriate level for the defence of the Islands, and we keep this under constant review.