Free Republic

No discussions have been held between Britain and France on whether aircraft carriers could be sent to defend the Falkland Islands, Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey said. The Government "have not seen this as necessary", Mr Harvey said, despite the two countries recently agreeing to share carriers as part of a defence cooperation treaty. The deal raised concerns that the UK could be left without carrier strike capability if only a French ship was available and Paris decided it did not want to take part in military action that was not in its national interest. Defence Secretary Liam Fox conceded...

Britain and France today signed a landmark 50-year treaty on defence and security that envisages the joint use of aircraft carriers, a 10,000-strong joint expeditionary force and unprecedented new levels of co-operation over nuclear missiles. The deal, signed in London by David Cameron and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has in part been forced on the two countries as they struggle with tightening defence budgets, but also reflects a level of mutual trust not seen for decades. At a joint press conference at Lancaster House, Cameron repeatedly stressed that the agreement strengthened British sovereignty as he said it opened a...

David Cameron was warned last night that his new defence pact with France will provoke a split with the Americans. John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the UN, told the Mail the deal to share nuclear secrets and aircraft carriers with France is not supported by large sections of the American defence community. He claimed the deal – dubbed the Entente Frugale because it saves money – will lead Washington to cut intelligence sharing with the UK and lead to the subordination of British sovereignty. Napoleon Bonaparte must be chuckling in his grave over this,’ said Mr Bolton. ‘People...