Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to give Portsmouth residents the opportunity to go onboard HMS Prince of Wales while she is docked in the city.

While there are currently no plans for HMS PRINCE OF WALES to be opened to members of the public while berthed in HM Naval Base Portsmouth, the Royal Navy will continue to consider opportunities in the future.

Portsmouth is a complex industrial and operational Naval Base and a key engineering support hub for the Royal Navy. As such, ships alongside will always have some sort of engineering, training or refit activity being undertaken.

With the number of Naval and Defence assets within the Base, and taking account of the current security climate and posture, scheduling dates in a ship's programme can be disruptive to operational output. This is especially the case with ships as complex and in demand as the Queen Elizabeth Class.