Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has for inclusion within negotiations on the UK leaving the EU the continuing participation by the UK in Operation Sophia; and if he will take steps to ensure continuing UK participation in that operation after the UK has left the EU.

The UK remains fully engaged in European defence and security, as our ongoing commitments to European Union Common Security and Defence Policy operations and missions demonstrate. Our future relationship with the EU on foreign and defence policy is something that will be addressed in the future. But it is clear that we share many challenges with other European nations, and therefore it is in our shared interests to continue to cooperate.