Shipyard job losses announcement and PMQs: Politics live blog

Here's an afternoon Govan/Portsmouth reading list.

I've already mentioned Severin Carell's analysis of the politics of the decision.

Here are some other articles worth reading.

• Dan Milmo at the Guardian says the decline of the British shipbuilding industry was not inevitable.

Conversations with veteran industrialists about the state of shipbuilding today do not yield whimsical reminiscence of the good old days. Instead they produce regrets that tough commercial decisions – of the kind that saw France and Germany aggressively pursue markets such as nuclear power or premium cars – were not made in Britain in the 70s and 80s. Sir John Parker, the former chief executive of Harland and Wolff, the much-diminished Belfast shipbuilder, said the industry missed an opportunity in the Thatcher era.

"One of my big industrial disappointments or even failures is that I failed to persuade the government of the day that there was a big future in building cruise ships. Whoever used run-of-the-mill bulk carriers or tankers drifted to the lowest-cost country. So how you survived in higher-cost countries was more sophisticated ships like cruise ships. I saw that there was going to be a lot of growth in cruise ship building so we demonstrated that this was a real growth industry. And nearly 25 years on, those forecasts would have underestimated the demand." Thus the industry drifted to the east.

• Iain Martin at the Telegraph says the problems started even earlier.

The reality is that British shipbuilding has been in trouble since shortly after the Second World War. Commercially we fell behind, even though globally this is a golden age of shipping when tens of thousands of vast container ships criss-cross the globe carrying goods between continents. The decline in shipbuilding here had its roots in poor management stretching back to the late 19th century, trade union obstinacy, and the rise after two world wars of foreign rivals who could produce much bigger ships more efficiently. Capital which might have been invested in the UK catching up went elsewhere, when quite sensibly those with said capital observed that it could get much higher returns if invested in sectors and other markets that did not have the problems inherent in British shipbuilding and heavy industry.

• Nick Robinson on his BBC blog says ministers started discussing the idea of ending naval shipbuilding at Portsmouth and locating it all at Govan three years ago - long before the Scottish independence referendum was announced.

• Con Coughlin in the Telegraph says the English "are paying too high a price for keeping a few querulous Scots on side".

Penny Mordaunt, the Conservative MP for Portsmouth North, has been tweeting about the job losses.

As well as writing to BAE Systems, she could, of course, ask Philip Hammond, the defence secretary. She's his PPS. That explains why, despite being a local MP, she did not speak in the Commons when Hammond made his statement.

(Hammond was asked what would happen in the event of a yes vote in the Scottish referendum. See 2.47pm.)

My colleague Severin Carrell has written an analysis of the significance of the shipyard job losses announcement, and what it means for Scotland. He says it is a mistake to see this as a sop to Alex Salmond. Here's an extract.

This week the GMB, the dominant union at BAE's Clyde shipyards and the third largest trade union in Scotland, announced it would support the no campaign in the referendum, provoking the ire of the nationalists but underscoring the political significance of this industry.

The decision to defend jobs in Scotland is no sop to Alex Salmond and his Scottish Nationalist government: confirmation that the Royal Navy's next-generation Type 26 frigate will be built on the Clyde is intended to be a challenge from the UK government to his plans for independence.

The defence secretary, Philip Hammond, recently said both yards would close – and contracts for the navy's next-generation Type 26 frigates would be lost – if Scotland voted for independence, since no UK government would pay a foreign shipyard to build its warships. In that scenario, warship-building would return to Portsmouth, perhaps with hundreds of Glaswegian shipbuilders heading south following that work.

Here's the Labour MP John Denham responding to Philip Hammond's statement on Twitter.

Philip Hammond's statement is now over.

I'll post a summary soon.

Hammond says the current assumption is that the government will eventually order 13 of the new Type 26 frigates.

Peter Luff, the Conservative former defence minister, asks what the purpose of the three new boats will be.

Hammond says they will be able to carry out a range of duties, including anti-smuggling operations and defending overseas territories. 

Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative, asks for an assurance that the second aircraft carrier will be put into service.

Hammond says this decision will be taken in the defence review in 2015. But his personal view is clear. Having spent £3bn building it, he thinks spending £70m a year having it in service will be good value for money.

Hammond says SNP policies would drive shipbuilding out of Scotland.

His announcement today will make the Clyde the centre of shipbuilding in the UK, he says.

Hammond says there is only enough demand for one shipbuilding centre in the UK. Anything else is "fantasy economics", he says. 

Tracey Crouch, Conservative MP for Chatham, says Chatham was blighed by the closure of the dockyard there 30 years ago.

Hammond says Portsmouth will not become a "historic port" (ie, no longer a working one) like Chatham. 

Sir Edward Leigh, a Conservative and a former chair of the public accounts committee, asks for an assurance that defence contracts will not in future be delayed in the way the carrier contract was delayed, with the result the cost went up.

Hammond says when the carrier project was finalised, the cost was set at £3.6bn. At one stage it had been £3.2bn. But he has not met anyone who thought it would come in for £3.6bn, he says. That was always a "fantasy" figure.

Labour's Thomas Docherty asks if the Type 26 order will stay in the Clyde if Scotland votes for independence.

Hammond says the Type 26 order will not be finalised until the design is ready. That will not be until the end of next year. So the question does not apply now, he says.

George Hollingbery, a Conservative, pays tribute to the work done by Penny Mordaunt to support the shipbuilding industry in Portsmouth.

Hammond agrees. Since he has known her, she has talked of little else, he says.

Labour's Cathy Jamieson asks what works has been done to allow shipbuilders to diversify into other industries.

Hammond says this is a matter for the Scottish government.

Mark Hoban, the Conservative, asks if the land released by the closure of the shipbuilding yard in Portsmouth could be released for use by the commercial port.

Hammond says this is being looked at.

Hammond says that if Scotland were not part of the UK, he would not have been able to make this announcement today.

Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP for Chichester, asks how many compulsory redundancies there will be. And can he give an assurance that no jobs are being lost in Portsmouth to save jobs in Glasgow?

Hammond says it was BAE Systems that decided where the job losses should fall. The MoD concurred, he says. And he says he expects 940 jobs to go from Portsmouth.

Labour's John Denham, the Southampton Itchen MP, says the last Labour government secured the future of shipbuilding on the south coast. This government has failed to win new orders for Portsmouth, he says.

Hammond says Labour did nothing to secure new global orders for the UK defence industry.

Sir Nick Harvey, the Lib Dem former defence minister, asks if other shipbuilders will get the chance to bid for the contract to build the three new ships.

Hammond says they won't have that chance. This is a deal with BAE Systems. It is designed to "soak up" the money that the government would be spending anyway.

The SNP's Angus Robertson asks Hammond if he agrees with BAE Systems that new frigates should be built in Glasgow.

Hammond says it is BAE System's judgement that the Type 26 combat ship should be built on the Clyde. The MoD agrees with that, he says.

Labour's Ian Davidson asks Hammond to confirm that the order for the new ships will not actually be confirmed until after the Scottish referendum.

Hammond says the government will not finalise an order for ships that have not yet been designed. That was the mistake Labour made with the aircraft carriers, he says. That would amount to writing a blank cheque to the supplier.

Mike Hancock, the Portsmouth South MP, asks why work from Portsmouth is being transferred to Glasgow. And will any of the MoD money to Portsmouth be clawed back via the city deal.

Hammond says moving three carrier blocks to the Clyde will enable the yard to stay viable into the future.

And he says that, as part of the city deal, he expects the MoD to make land available for development.

Labour's Jim Sheridan says he is a former shipyard worker. He asks Hammond to contrast BAE Systems with the employer at Grangemouth. One respects the workforce, one doesn't, he says.

Hammond says that he thinks industrial relations at BAE Systems are good. 

Caroline Dinenage, the Conservative MP for Gosport, asks for more details of the Portsmouth city deal.

Hammond says he accepts this is a bad announcement for Portsmouth. But it should be kept in context. Some 11,000 jobs remain.

An announcement about a city deal will be made very soon, he says.

Hammond says this announcement secures a sustainable ship building industry in the UK.

James Arbuthnot, the Conservative chair of the defence committee, asks if Hammond is going to bring both aircraft carriers into service.

Hammond says that decision will be made in the strategic defence review in 2015. But whether it is brought into service of mothballed, it will be based at Portsmouth.

Hammond is responding to Coaker.

He says Coaker will have to check his facts. Coaker said the carrier programme originally cost £3.2bn. But, almost as soon as it was announced, the Labour government announced a two-year delay, adding £1.6bn to the costs.

Hammond says unions have been engaged in trying to save the shipbuilding industry. He says the unions accept that the aircraft carrier contract led to a surge in jobs, and that this was not going to be sustained.

He says he would be more than happy to have a long conversation with Coaker about the £38bn black hole in the defence budget.

He says he cannot give Coaker a guarantee that the cost of the carriers project will rise. But now BAE Systems have an incentive to keep costs down.

He says the government acted in the interests of the whole UK.

Vernon Coaker, the shadow defence secretary, is responding to Hammond.

Coaker suggests the government support the aircraft carriers programme when it was started by Labour.

On the job losses, he asks what discussions Hammond has had with the Department for Business about ensuring shipbuilding skills are not lost.

The 2012 white paper on national security said skills were not considered as a national security matter.

Coaker says Hammond's claim that the government inherited a £38bn black hole in the defence budget is not credible. The NAO does not accept that, he says.

Can Hammond give more details about the cost of the three new ships being ordered?

And can he says more about the future of the second aircraft carrier?

Coaker asks for an assurance that the decisions were taken in the national interest, and not with a view to influencing the Scottish referendum.

And what will happen if Scotland votes for independence? Britain must maintain the ability to build warships.

Hammond turns to the BAE job losses announced today.

He says the end of the the aircraft carrier construction meant job losses were inevitable.

But BAE System has said they will do their best to find alternative jobs for workers.

The government is looking at how a city deal for Portsmouth could help the area, he says. The Solent local enterprise partnership will look into this.

And he says the government will invest £100m in expanding the naval base at Portsmouth.

Hammond turns to the government's wider warship building agreement with BAE Systems.

The government is still committed to a Type 26 combat ship. But construction will not start until 2016.

That leaves a gap in the shipyard construction programme. Under the terms of the government's agreement with BAE Systems, the government would have to pay the workers anyway. But their skills would diminish because they would not be working.

So the government has commissioned three new ships, she says. (See 11.35am.)

Hammond says the government would have had to pay the workers anyway. Because of this, the cost of the new boats is less than £100m.

Labour's Susan Elan Jones says last year bonuses rose 91% faster than ordinary wages. Is the Cameron not willing to act? Or is he just too useless to do anything?

Cameron says bonuses were higher under Labour. If Jones wants to see someone useless, she should look at her frontbench.

Cameron says he wants to see more young people studying engineering.

Labour's Alison McGovern asks how many of the new private sector jobs that Cameron boasts about involve people on zero-hour contracts.

Cameron says he does not know the answer to that. But he says Labour-controlled Doncaster does not pay the living wage, while Conservative-controlled London does.

Labour's Sharon Hodgson says the number of people unemployed in her constituency for more than two years has risen by 350%.

Cameron says the claimant count is coming down. The government must do more to grow the economy, he says. But it won't grow if the government borrows more. Labour is the biggest threat to the economy, he says.

Labour's David Winnick says World War Two was fought to bring about a fairer society. Yet Cameron's policies penalised the hard-pressed. What is happening is unacceptable and contemptible.

Cameron says the government has taken 2.4m people out of poverty altogether. 

Labour's John Cryer says he is proud to be a trade unionist.

Cameron says there are plenty of decent trade unionists. But it's their leaders who let them down, he says. He accuses them of being bullies, and of bulling the Labour leader.

Mike Hancock, the Portsmouth MP, asks what the government will do to help the city following the job losses.

Cameron says the MoD will be investing £100m in ship servicing work in Portsmouth. Philip Hammond will give more details in his statement.

Sir Peter Tapsell, the Conservative, says in some countries the intelligence services are out of control. Is Cameron confident that is not the case in Britain?

Cameron says there is a rule about not commenting on intelligence matters, but he tells Tapsell he has looked at what the intelligence services do carefully and he is sure they are accountable.

Labour's Tom Blenkinsop says a Tory councillor subject to an arrest warrant in Pakistan was entertained at a reception in Number 10. Does Cameron agree he should return to Pakistan to face justice?

Cameron says he is looking into this case and will write to Blenkinsop.

Labour's Pat McFadden asks Cameron to admit that the Tpim regime was a mistake.

Cameron says he does not accept this. Under control orders, seven people absconded. The control order regime was being continually "hacked away" by the courts, he says. There has to be some regime for people who cannot be prosecuted. But the government will make it "as robust as possible".

Mark Reckless, a Conservative, asks the government to close a loophole that allows foreign buyers to buy property in London without paying capital gains tax.

Cameron sidesteps the question, but says the rules were in place under Labour. The government has been closing loopholes already, he says.

The SNP's Angus Roberston points out that the shipyard job losses did not come up at all in Cameron's exchanges with Miliband.

Cameron says the government is announcing the building of three new warships on the Clyde. There will be job reduction, he says. But there are more jobs in ship servicing, he says. This government is building two new aircraft carriers, as well as destroyers and submarines. 

Snap PMQs Verdict: Miliband had the edge, I felt, but he did not score a clear-cut victory, and the exchanges started with confusing statistic-swapping, and ended with sloganising. Not a classic encounter. 

And Cameron is too clueless to know the facts, Miliband says. The NHS is failing because of Cameron's botched reorganisation. There is only one person responsible for the winter crisis - Cameron.

Cameron says mixed-sex accommodation is down, 1.2m more are treated in A&E, and the NHS is getting better. Labour never stands up for the NHS.

Miliband says Cameron is complacent and clueless. It is heading into the winter with fewer nurses. The NHS is not safe in his hands.

Cameron says there are more A&E nurses than there were five years ago. He stands up for the NHS. When will Miliband understand that his job is to stand up to Unite.

Miliband says Cameron is out of touch. He lists a series of health statistics going up. And it is because of his NHS reorganisation. How many NHS managers received a six-figure pay-off?

Cameron says there are 20,000 fewer managers in the NHS. But he quotes figures showing numbers of health staff are going up.

Miliband says Labour warned that care would be affected. Some 2,300 manages have received six-figure pay-offs, he says. So Cameron is giving P45s to nurses and six-figure pay-offs to managers. How many of those managers have been remployed?

Cameron says for the first time managers who are re-employed have to pay back money. And the reorganisation is saving £4.5bn. Miliband is too weak to stand up to poor health management in Labour's Wales.

Ed Miliband echoes what Cameron said about veterans.

Can Cameron guarantee there won't be an A&E crisis this winter.

Cameron says the government will do all it can. It has met its A&E target 27 weeks in a row. It is treating more than 1.2m patients in A&E. And there won't be a winter crisis in Wales - because there is an NHS crisis there already.

Miliband says Cameron is wrong. The government has missed its target on A&E for 15 consecutive weeks, he says. He notes that Cameron could not guarantee that there would not be a crisis.

Cameron repeats the 27 weeks in a row point. Now the average waiting time in A&E is 50 minutes. When Andy Burnham was in charge, it was 70 minutes, he says.

Steve Baker, a Conservative, says businessmen, decent trade unionists and papers like the Daily Mirror will have been appalled by the so-called Leverage tactics of Unite in the Grangemouth dispute. Will Cameron ensure families are protected from militants?

Cameron says this sort of intimidation is unacceptable. People's neighbours have been told they are evil. That is shocking. It is disgraceful that Ed Miliband will not order a review.

David Cameron starts by saying, with Remembrance Day coming, he would like MPs to remember all those who served the country in conflict.

This is from the shipyard at Portsmouth.

In the Commons a few minutes ago Alistair Carmichael, the Scottish secretary, was asked about the job losses in Scotland. "It was a day we always knew was coming," he said. But he promised to work with politicians from other parties, and with the Scottish government, to mitigate the effects of the job losses. 

I was not at the Number 10 lobby briefing, but it seems that Number 10 is not denying that referendum concerns played a part in the decision to focus job losses on Portsmouth.

Here is some snap reaction to the BAE Systems announcement.

From Ian Waddell, Unite's national officer for shipbuilding

This is a very worrying time for the workforces and their families as the work on the two carriers comes to a conclusion. Unite will be working very hard to retain the maximum number of jobs at both Portsmouth and in Scotland. It is a huge blow to Britain's manufacturing and industrial base, with many highly skilled workers faced with losing their jobs.

We will have to examine the BAE business case in detail to see how we can secure a future for the workforces at both Portsmouth and in Scotland. We believe that, if this is approached in a constructive and innovative way, it can be achieved.

The seeds for this situation were sown in the 1980s when the Thatcher government used European structural funds to close shipyards, rather than funding investment that would have allowed Britain to compete in the global marketplace for shipbuilding orders against the likes of South Korea. 

From Steve Murphy, general secretary of construction workers union Ucatt

Once again workers have found out that their jobs are under threat through the media. It is highly distressing and extremely unfair to treat a loyal workforce in such a way. 

This is a highly skilled workforce, so it is absolutely essential that the government and BAE Systems minimises job losses, guarantees the long-term future of all the shipyards and continues to invest in training the workers of the future. 

From Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of Portsmouth City Council

I condemn the decision to shut down the last remaining shipyard in England with the capability to build advanced surface warships. This decision is bad for Portsmouth, with the loss of many highly-skilled jobs, but it's also bad for the defence of the UK and for the Royal Navy. 

The remaining yards with the capability to build advanced warships are in Scotland, and the referendum on Scottish independence is less than one year away. Ministers have put the defence of the UK and the future of the navy at real risk.

We will work as hard as we can to protect jobs in Portsmouth. Portsmouth remains the home of the Royal Navy, with more than 10,000 jobs remaining in the dockyard.

From Maureen Frost, executive director of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce

Losing the shipbuilding side is devastating news for the city. It's also about the supply chain and those small businesses that supply into BAE Systems so there's going to be a major impact.

The Ministry of Defence has now put out its own statement about the announcement. It ignores the job losses, and instead focuses on the new orders going to Glasgow and a plan to expand the naval base in Portsmouth.

Bizarrely, it is actually headlined: "NEW SHIPS FOR ROYAL NAVY SECURE UK SHIPBUILDING SKILLS."

Here's what it says.

The MoD plans to commission three new ocean-going Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Royal Navy in a deal that will sustain jobs in the UK’s warship building industry.

The new ships, which will be built by BAE Systems at their shipyards on the Clyde, will play a key role in counter-terrorism, counter-piracy and anti smuggling operations.

The agreement with BAE Systems provides work for the company between the completion of the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers and the Type 26 Global Combat Ship, securing the vital skills needed to build the UK’s future warships.

The Defence Secretary is also announcing today that more than £100 million will be invested in Her Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth, which will be home to both HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. The money will expand the dockyard to ensure it is ready for the arrival of the Royal Navy’s biggest ever warships as well as the Type 45 destroyers which are based in Portsmouth.

Under the Terms of Business Agreement signed with BAE Systems in 2009 the MoD would have been liable to pay for any periods when no shipbuilding was taking place at UK yards.

Building Offshore Patrol Vessels means not only are staff at BAE Systems able to continue to work and maintain their skills, but the Royal Navy benefits from three new ships and the taxpayer gets much better value for money. The cost of building the ships is funded from money that would have been used to pay for idle capacity, finance redundancies and meet the cost of industrial restructuring.

Portsmouth will maintain its proud maritime heritage as the home of much of the Royal Navy’s surface fleet and the centre of BAE Systems ship support and maintenance business.

And here's the statement from Philip Hammond, the defence secretary.

This deal will provide the Royal Navy with three brand new maritime patrol vessels with a wide range of capabilities which will support our national interests and those of our OverseasTerritories.

This is an investment not only in three ships but in this country’s warship building industry. It prevents workers standing idle and sustains the vital skills needed to build the planned Type 26 frigate in the future.

I am also pleased to announce additional investment in Portsmouth Naval Base to prepare for the significant increase in tonnage as the home port for the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers and destroyers.

Here is more from the interview Mike Hancock, the Portsmouth South MP, gave to BBC News earlier. (See 10.50am.)

• Hancock said he believed that the desire to minimise job losses in Scotland ahead of next year's independence referendum was a factor in the decision to concentrate job losses in Portsmouth. 

The political side of it is undoubtedly this has to play for the Scottish referendum, and you have to be pretty kind to the government to believe this didn't play some part in it. I think Alex Salmond was in a no-lose situation. He would benefit if they closed the yard by saying they were being punished. If they keep the yards open, he will say they're being bribed. So from that point of view he's in a no-lose situation. But I think the people of Portsmouth will be paying a very heavy price for I think a slightly cynical manoeuvre. And I'm disappointed in that.

• He said he expected David Cameron and the Department for Business to make an announcement later today about developing maritime industry in Portsmouth.

• He said the he expected some of those who lost their jobs in the shipbuilding yards in Portsmouth to be able to transfer to BAE's ship-repair division at Portsmouth.

And here are the additional notes from the BAE Systems news release.

Portsmouth

The company has extensive high end naval engineering operations in the Portsmouth area. After the proposed reductions announced today, BAE Systems will still employ approximately 3,200 people across its sites at HM Naval Base Portsmouth, Portsdown Hill, Broad Oak, Cowes, and HMS Collingwood.

Portsmouth based engineers will be retained to support the design and development of the Type 26 frigate programme. The Company's Maritime Services business, based in Portsmouth, manages the running of HM Naval Base on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. The Queen Elizabeth Class carriers are expected to be based in the Portsmouth from 2017. The business also provides support services to the Royal Navy's Portsmouth flotilla, including the six Type 45 destroyers, which accounts for around 50% of the surface fleet.

Glasgow

BAE Systems operates two shipyards in Glasgow, Govan and Scotstoun, currently employing 3,200 people. These sites are supporting the manufacture of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers and design of the Type 26 Global Combat Ship

Type 26 Global Combat Ship

The assessment phase for the Type 26 programme started in March 2010. A combined Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems team of approximately 550 engineers in Bristol, Glasgow and Portsmouth are currently working to develop the detailed specification for the vessel, with a manufacturing contract expected to be awarded at the end of 2014.

BAE has now announced its planned job losses.

This is from the Press Association.

Defence giant BAE Systems is to consult on 1,775 potential job losses across its naval ships business.

Around 940 roles are under threat in Portsmouth during 2014, and a further 835 in Scotland, according to sources.

An official announcement is expected shortly to confirm fierce speculation about the scale of cuts in BAE's three main yards - Portsmouth, Govan and Scotstoun in Scotland.

Shipbuilding operations will end in Portsmouth in the second half of next year, but an engineering team will be retained to support the new Type 26 warships, which will be built in Glasgow. 

Mike Hancock, the MP for Portsmouth South, has just told BBC News that he understands that around 500 core jobs will go at Portsmouth and a similar number of agency jobs. Many of them will "fairly quickly", he said.

He also claimed that the desire to save jobs in Scotland ahead of next year's independence referendum was a factor. It was a "slightly cynical manoeuvre", he said.

I'll post the full quotes in a moment.

Vernon Coaker, the shadow defence secretary, told BBC News just now that he would be asking Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, what would happen to the Royal Navy shipbuilding contracts going to Glasgow in the event of Scotland voting for independent. Asked about Ian Davidson's proposal for a break clause in the contract (see 10.26am) , Coaker said he did not know whether this was feasible. But he said Davidson was raising an important point.

The really important thing for us is to ensure that this country has the capability, the capacity, to build the warships that it needs. We have some of the most skilled workers in the world in this country with respect to building those warships. You can't just turn those skills on and off. So we have to ensure that we have the capacity in those yards to keep those workers in work and to ensure that we can build the ships that we need.

On STV last night Ian Davidson, the Labour MP for Glasgow South West, said that the government should continue to order ships from the yards in Scotland, but that there should be a break clause in the contract allowing the contract to be cancelled if Scotland votes for independence. Here's the video. And here's the key quote.

I know that there's been a lot of pressure from both the government and the MoD to delay placing an order for the Type 26 [with Glasgow] because of the uncertainty caused by the referendum. Quite clearly, the British government has said specifically on a number of occasions that it will not place an order for warships in what would be a foreign country. What I've argued is that they should go ahead now, place the order, and if necessary have a claw-back clause in order that if, in the unlikely event that we vote for separation, they can take the work back in-house. 

The Channel 4 News journalist Michael Crick would like to see Mike Hancock, the MP for Portsmouth South, resign to fight a byelection over the job losses.

But Hancock isn't very keen on the idea.

Back to the shipyard job losses. We are getting an official announcement at 11am.

And here's the latest Guardian story about the job losses.

The Press Association has just snapped this.

Five disabled people have won their Court of Appeal bid to overturn the government's decision to abolish the Independent Living Fund. 

And here's an extract from the story PA filed overnight with some background to the case.

Five disabled people learn the outcome of their Court of Appeal bid to overturn the Government's decision to abolish the Independent Living Fund (ILF) today.

Their appeal is against a High Court ruling by Mr Justice Blake in April upholding the Government's decision.

The judge said the decision was not legally flawed, and the Government had not failed in its public sector equality duties.

The ILF currently provides support enabling some 19,000 severely disabled people in the UK to live independent lives in the community.

The five argued in the appeal court that the High Court had gone wrong in law and there was lack of proper consultation before the closure decision was taken on December 18 2012. 

Johann Lamont, the Scottish Labour leader, has been speaking to BBC News about the job losses. She is an MSP for a Glasgow constituency, but she implied that she did not want to see the story just in terms of Scotland v England.

The first thing I would say, whether it is Portsmouth or the Clyde, we know these shipworkers are a very talented, very gifted, skilled workforce, and we have a solidarity right across the United Kingdom. We are sharing the concern now, the uncertainty. These are the people that need to be the focus of our considerations and deliberations at this time.

Here's a blog from Peter Henley, the BBC's South of England political editor, about the job losses at Portsmouth. Here's an extract.

I am told that the announcement has been brought forward to this morning due to leaks in the media.

Everyone expects it to be curtains for shipbuilding. Some wonder whether BAE may also lose some of the maintenance contract for the surface fleet, perhaps to Babcock.

It has become clear that while BAE is keen to work on low-risk ventures like the Type 26 it sees ship services, not ship building, as its future and so it is natural for them to rationalise facilities.

The only good news could be an impending city deal worth at least £100m to help widen the marine industry in Portsmouth, with Rolls Royce Marine, Qinetiq maybe involved. Perhaps private refit work could provide some income at Basin 3 ...

Considerations of the vote on Scottish independence seem to have trumped the hi-tech yard run by BAE in Portsmouth. The move of Vosper Thornycroft from Southampton to Portsmouth meant the kit was amongst the best in the world. But the Clyde carries more weight at the moment.

Henley also points out that Penny Mordaunt, the Conservative MP for Portsmouth North, is parliamentary private secretary to the defence secretary, Philip Hammond.

This from the Press Association.

More than 1,000 jobs are set to be axed at some of the UK's leading shipyards as defence work is reduced.
Unions are braced for an announcement at 11am, including a decision not to build any new warships at the historic Portsmouth yard.

BAE Systems is expected to reveal the scale of job losses in Portsmouth and its other two yards at Govan and Scotstoun in Scotland.

It is understood that repair and maintenance facilities will be upgraded at Portsmouth, mitigating the effect on jobs.

New Type 26 warships will be built in Scotland, it is understood.

Politicians in Portsmouth have expressed alarm at the expected cuts, as well as the impact on firms which service the yard. 

There are two parliamentary constituencies covering Portsmouth.

Portsmouth North is a classic Labour/Tory marginal. It was Labour until 2010, but Penny Mordaunt won it for the Conservatives with a majority of 7,289.

And Portsmouth South has been Lib Dem since 1997, when Mike Hancock won it from the Conservatives. In 2010 he had a majority of 5,200 over the Conservatives. 

UPDATE at 10.33am: Mysticnick in the comments reminds me that Hancock is now technically an independent, since he resigned the whip over the summer.

On Twitter there is already some evidence of a backlash from the right against the idea that jobs are being lost in Portsmouth to save jobs in Glasgow.

Here's the Daily Mail's James Chapman.

And here is the Countryside Alliance's Tim Bonner.

Here's the Guardian story from last night with background to today's shipyard closure announcement.

We are going to get a major announcement about job losses at shipyards today. The BBC's Nick Robinson has been making the running with this story. He tweeted this about half an hour ago.

And here is the top of the story running on the BBC's website.

The announcement on job cuts at BAE's shipbuilding yards on the Clyde and the south coast of England is now expected to be made on Wednesday morning.

It is understood shipbuilding at Portsmouth will stop.

The company may cut more than 1,000 jobs in total between Portsmouth and the Govan and Scotstoun yards in Glasgow.

It is thought Govan will not close. An announcement had originally been due on Thursday.

Job losses on this scale normally have political consequences, as well as, of course, the real, immediate impact on the workers involved and their families. But in this case the Scottish independence referendum, and the desire to minimise the impact on Glasgow, has reportedly been a factor, and that may will trigger some kind of backlash. For an early flavour of that, see this from the Daily Mail's Tim Shipman.

There will be a statement at 12.30pm.

I'll be covering the statement, and the reaction, in detail.

Here's the agenda for the day.

9.15am: Dominic Grieve, the attorney general, gives evidence to the committee considering the draft prisoner voting bill.

9.30am: Experts from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and universities give evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee on the bedroom tax and other housing/welfare matters.

10.15am: Sir Mark Walport, the government's chief scientific adviser, gives evidence to the Commons science committee on climate change.

12pm: David Cameron and Ed Miliband clash at PMQs.

12.30pm: Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, gives a Common statement on shipyard job losses.

1pm: Cameron meets Park Geun-hye, the president of South Korea, at Downing Street.

2.30pm: Theresa Villiers, the Northern Ireland secretary, gives evidence to the Commons Northern Ireland committee.

As usual, I’ll also be covering all the breaking political news as well as looking at the papers and bringing you the best politics from the web. I’ll post a lunchtime summary after the Hammond statement and another after the home affairs committee hearing.

If you want to follow me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.