§ Ms SquireTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress has been made on strengthening links between the Royal Navy and the French Navy. [109358]
§ Mr. SpellarI am pleased to announce that HMS Victorious will shortly conduct a port visit to France. She will arrive in Brest on 11 February. This is the second visit of its kind, the first having taken place at Gibraltar in November 1998. The visit has been made possible as a result of the reduced operational tempo of our SSBN fleet, as implemented in the Strategic Defence Review.