Some say that it's an interesting idea in theory but won't work in practice. (If so, a good theory is always a winner in France, regardless of practical application.) What is also striking about this potential move is that it never could have been done by Labour. While combining/sharing the military forces has made perfect sense in Europe for years, attempting such an agreement from the left would have brought cries of treason from the right. It's not unlike Nixon and China, in US terms.
Britain and France are expected to reveal plans to share the use of their aircraft carriers.
This would allow Britain to scrap or downgrade one of the two replacement carriers announced in 2007 at a cost of £5.2bn, but would risk thousands of shipyard jobs.
David Cameron and President Nicolas Sarkozy are expected to announce the proposal in November.
The arrangement would ensure that one of three ships – one French, two British – remained permanently on patrol. Currently Britain's two aging vessels – HMS Ark Royal and HMS Illustrious – are occasionally both in dock at the same time.
A decision on the future of the two planned replacement carriers will be announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review in October. A shared patrolling scheme with the French military would allow one to be built to a lesser specification, sold to another country or scrapped.
