Row over French access to British ‘secrets’/France blocked over UK carrier

A fresh Anglo-French row has broken out over plans to allow the French government limited access to details of the new £2.8bn British aircraft carrier. The agreement, first discussed by Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac at their Le Touquet summit in February 2003, is a stepping stone to a common European defence policy. The political tensions over the agreement illustrate the bigger hurdle Mr Blair and President Chirac will have to surmount if their goal of pan-European co-operation on defence procurement is to be achieved.