Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy not to approve the departure to Turkey from Portsmouth of the aircraft carrier Illustrious until the bid to purchase it for preservation has been fully considered and a decision made on its viability.

The departure of the hulk of Illustrious from HM Naval Base Portsmouth will allow the Royal Navy to prepare for the arrival of the first of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth, in 2017.

We have considered the merits of the outline proposal made by a business consortium to purchase Illustrious and concluded that it is not sufficiently viable to cancel the sale of the vessel for recycling.