My regional visit to Lyon

I recently spent two days in Lyon, where there is a whole range of areas where Britain and France are working together. First of all, I went to Interpol, which is a century-old cooperation between police forces, where we have senior members of staff working on secondment from the British police to ensure the best possible circulation of information about suspects, potential terrorists,  to make sure that our police forces are working well together.

Written version (continued)

Then I went into a bunker in a mountain just outside Lyon to visit the French air defence centre, which is responsible for maintaining security of the whole French airspace, and of course works very closely with similar centres in the UK to ensure that the traffic moving from France to the UK and back – which is enormous in scope – is handled safely, and again, that any security risks are dealt with.

In the evening, I had dinner with members of the international business community in Lyon, including a number of British entrepreneurs.

The following morning, I went to a fascinating laboratory dealing with some of the most dangerous viruses in the world.  It’s called P4 – the highest level of confinement for dealing with the most dangerous pathogens. Very close links to Porton Down in the UK where similar work is done, and an example of international scientific cooperation.

Finally, I spent some time with the British community, who were commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation. We had about a hundred people, drawn from all walks of life, some who have lived in Lyon for many years, others who have recently arrived, to celebrate that amazing achievement of the Queen’s 60 years on the throne.

And then to wrap it up, still with the British community, I went to see our new British Council English language teaching offices, which are doing very well, classes are growing in size, it’s a major partner of the cultural scene in Lyon and I’m delighted to see its success.