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Three Royal Air Force Chinook helicopters from RAF Odiham, supported by around 90 British troops, are now on the ground and ready to begin providing logistical and troop movement support to our allies.

Armed Forces minister Mark Lancaster said:

“The UK and France have a unique security and defence relationship that has lasted for more than a century and this deployment demonstrates our shared commitment to tackling terrorism, instability and reducing threats to European security”

The Chinooks will provide niche logistical support and will also help improve safety by moving troops by air, rather than ground where they are more vulnerable to attack.

The UK has been a long-standing supporter of UN and EU military operations in Mali and has worked with international partners to prevent extremists from using the ungoverned space in the Sahel to plan and launch attacks on Europe, as well as counter the illegal trade in people, drugs, weapons and wildlife.

This is in addition to existing wider support to Africa including doubling our UN peacekeeping contribution with additional deployments to South Sudan and Somalia.

The Prime Minister will reaffirm her commitment to a Brexit that avoids a hard border and protects the Belfast Agreement, in a visit to Northern Ireland this week (Thursday 19 – Friday 20 July).

In a visit to a border area on Thursday with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister will meet with businesses to listen to their views on what working, living and trading across the border means to them.

The PM will deliver a speech on Friday in Belfast, which will emphasise her personal commitment to the strength of the UK’s four nations and the solutions set out in the White Paper that address Northern Ireland’s unique circumstances.

On restoring devolved government to Northern Ireland, the PM is expected to meet with political parties on working together towards this goal for the benefit of all communities.

She will also speak to young people to hear their views on Northern Ireland’s future, for them and generations to come.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

I look forward to hearing views from businesses on the border in Northern Ireland on our departure from the European Union.

I fully recognise how their livelihoods, families and friends rely on the ability to move freely across the border to trade, live and work on a daily basis.

That’s why we have ruled out any kind of hard border. Daily journeys will continue to be seamless and there will be no checks or infrastructure at the border to get in the way of this.

I’ve also been clear we will not accept the imposition of any border down the Irish Sea and we will preserve the integrity of the UK’s internal market and Northern Ireland’s place within it.

From the start of the negotiations, the UK Government has put Northern Ireland’s unique circumstances at the heart of our negotiations. And nothing will undermine our commitment to protecting the Belfast Agreement.

I also look forward to meeting political parties on working together to restore stable and effective devolved Government for the benefit of everyone in Northern Ireland.