Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his French counterpart on the continued collaboration of aircraft carrier capabilities after HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are commissioned.

France and the UK enjoy a close Defence relationship, spanning a diverse set of capabilities. As the only two European nations capable of fielding credible carrier strike into the future, we already collaborate strongly on carrier capabilities and interoperability, and this will endure and strengthen once HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and HMS PRINCE OF WALES are commissioned.

The next UK-France Naval Staff talks, this spring, include Carrier collaboration as one of the headline agenda items.