Philip Hammond News

The charity behind a campaign to build a Battle of the Atlantic memorial on Liverpool’s waterfront has urged the government to support the project with money from the LIBOR bank fines fund. The Battle of the Atlantic Memorial (BOAM) campaign began fundraising in January. It hopes to secure $2.9millon to create a monument on Liverpool’s Pier Head, dedicated to the estimated 100,000 people who lost their lives during the World War Two battle, as well as those who served and survived.

The UK Chamber of Shipping, with backing from 40 shipping companies, has this week written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, asking the Government to double the amount of funding available for seafarer training as soon as possible. The letter was also sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond and the Minister of State, Department for Transport, John Hayes. The UK Chamber, in conjunction with Nautilus International, has submitted a proposal for the Government's existing Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme to be extended. “The Government’s review of SMarT recognised that change was necessary and recommended the level of support should increase from £15 million to around £30 million annually…

Britain will look at ways of making it easier to sell North Sea oil and gas fields by changing tax rules in order to keep them producing for longer, the finance ministry said. The move, which is due to be announced in finance minister Philip Hammond's budget on Wednesday, follows a call by the industry's oil lobby group for a change to decommissioning tax rules that have prevented deals in the North Sea. Owners of oil and gas assets get tax relief on the future costs of dismantling them, but as assets are sold the relief cannot be passed on to new owners. "The UK government will publish a discussion paper and establish a panel of industry experts to consider how tax can assist sales of oil and gas fields, helping to keep them productive for longer," the ministry said in a statement.

EU maritime mission gains more power to seize weapons; also says moves will help break migrant smuggling gangs. The European Union on Monday gave its naval force in the Mediterranean the authority to search suspicious vessels at sea in a bid to stop arms getting to Islamic State in Libya and to break up gangs smuggling migrants to Europe. EU foreign ministers acted to boost the effectiveness of the five-frigate "Sophia" mission after winning a U.N. mandate to reinforce an arms embargo on Libya, where Islamic State is strengthening its grip, and limit the near-impunity of the people smugglers. "We must act, both against those who exploit the migrants…

South China Sea warning looms over G7 summit. The United States is keen to raise the issue of South China Sea at a Group of Seven foreign ministers (G-7) meeting in Hiroshima. The US expects that this move would likely draw an angry response from the government in Beijing. Japan also wants to discuss South China Sea. The Shinzo Abe administration of Japan has been trying to place the South China Sea on top of the agenda at the upcoming two-day meeting in Hiroshima, despite pressing issues of combating terrorism and extremism, and the refugee crisis troubling Europe and the Middle East. The US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said: "What we want to see happen in the South China Sea is important.

Five Britons were killed when a Canadian whale-watching boat sank on Sunday, and authorities were still searching on Monday for a sixth person feared drowned in the frigid waters of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia. The boat, carrying 24 passengers and three crew, sank on Sunday afternoon, sparking a rescue effort by the Canadian military, Coast Guard, fishermen and mariners from a nearby Aboriginal community. Five people were confirmed dead and one was missing, while 21 were rescued.

Five Britons were killed when a Canadian whale-watching boat sank on Sunday, the British foreign secretary said on Monday. The boat, carrying 27 passengers, sank off the coast of British Columbia on Sunday afternoon, sparking a rescue effort by the Coast Guard, fisherman and private mariners. Five people were confirmed dead and one was missing, while 21 were rescued. "My thoughts are with the family and friends of all those affected by this terrible accident," U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement.

Her Majesty The Queen has officially named the HMS Queen Elizabeth in front of a crowd that included shipbuilders, the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary, informs the UK Ministry of Defence. The naming ceremony concluded with the smashing of a bottle of whisky over the bow of the ship. Whilst traditionally a bottle of champagne is used to smash against the bow, given the carrier’s Scottish roots, it seemed most fitting for a bottle of Islay whisky to be used instead. UK MOD explains that towering at 56 metres and weighing in at [displacement] 65,000 tonnes, HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest ship ever built for the Royal Navy. She will be used in a full range of military tasks, from war-fighting to providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

Over the next 8 years BAE Systems’ shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness will undergo a transformation, part- funded by the Ministry of Defence, to improve the infrastructure of a site where submarines have been built for over a century. Around 850 contractors will work on the development at its peak to replace older buildings with newer, larger, state-of-the-art facilities to allow the construction of the UK’s future nuclear deterrent submarines, known as Successor. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond made the announcement…

The nuclear reactor in HMS Vanguard is to be refuelled, the Defence Secretary has announced. The decision comes after low levels of radioactivity were detected in a prototype core that has been running at the Naval Reactor Test Establishment at Dounreay in Scotland since 2002. In an oral statement to the House of Commons, the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, has announced his decision to refuel the nuclear reactor in HMS Vanguard during its planned deep maintenance period which begins in 2015.

The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP called on the UKMCC headquarters in order to meet personnel and receive briefings on the U.K.’s naval mission in the Gulf. He was accompanied throughout by Lieutenant General Simon Mayall CB, Defense Senior Advisor Middle East. Commenting on his visit, Hammond said, "The Royal Navy's continued presence in the Gulf is essential to ensuring maritime security and to protect freedom of navigation in this important region. The Secretary of State also met Vice Admiral John W Miller, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, during his visit.

The 'Successor' submarines, which will carry the UK’s strategic nuclear deterrent, will be the largest and most advanced boats operated by the Royal Navy, & two  contracts worth £47 million and £32 million have been awarded to BAE Systems Maritime-Submarines who are leading on the design of the vessels. The investment will allow BAE Systems, who currently have more than a thousand people working on the Successor programme, to begin work on some initial items for the submarines that are due to replace the Vanguard Class from 2028.

The 3 new ships will be built by BAE Systems at their shipyards on the Clyde in a deal that will sustain jobs in the UK’s warship-building industry, and will play a key role in counter-terrorism, counter-piracy and anti-smuggling operations, according to a UK MOD announcement. 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.

UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship 'Wave Knight' has helped seize an estimated £6.5 million worth of drugs from traffickers in the Caribbean. In a multi-agency operation involving UK and US assets, the fishing vessel Miss Tiffany was detected and one of Wave Knight ’s boats was launched to investigate. Soon after arrival, and upon hailing the vessel, the fishing boat's crew were seen jettisoning a number of suspect packages overboard. With multiple bales now being jettisoned by the crew and an urgent need to stop the fishing vessel…

Tributes have been paid to SirJohn 'Sandy' Woodward, who has died aged 81. "He served his country with distinction throughout his career, but he will be best remembered by many as the Navy’s 'Fighting Admiral' after he led the Royal Navy task force, sent by Margaret Thatcher [her government], to re-take the Falkland Islands in 1982" – Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond. "Admiral Sir ‘Sandy’ Woodward will always be remembered for his powerful and clear command of the Royal Navy task force that re-took the Falkland Islands in 1982.

British Secretary of State for Defense, Philip Hammond, signaled a key moment in the creation of aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth during his visit to the assembly site, Babcock’s Rosyth Dockyard. While Aircraft Carrier Alliance workers looked on, Mr. Hammond started the final stage of the operation to lower the ship’s iconic bridge section—also known as the forward island—into place, completing the bow end of the 65,000-ton aircraft carrier. The Defense Secretary said, "The addition of the forward island is a significant milestone for HMS Queen Elizabeth…

Austal receives a high profile defence delegation, including the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Defence, at its Western Australian facility. The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, the UK Secretary of State for Defence, was accompanied by Australia’s Minister for Defence, the Hon Stephen Smith, MP; Australia’s Chief of Defence Force, General David Hurley, AC, DSC; Australia’s Defence Secretary, Mr Dennis Richardson, AO and other defence personnel from both the United Kingdom and Australia.

A new treaty formalizes defence co-opertation between the UK and Australia, parties agree to consider mutual frigate design. The recently signed treaty in Perth sees the two countries working together in areas such as cyber security, defence reform, personnel exchange, equipment, and science and technology. During the trip, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond visited the Australian Naval Base and BAE Systems shipyard in Perth where they discussed a range of issues relating to the sustainment and development of Australia’s submarine programme and future shipbuilding.

The £350m contract to refit and refuel HMS Vengeance was confirmed by Defence Secretary Philip Hammond during a visit to Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth. The contract will sustain more than 1,000 jobs at Babcock in Devonport, and a further 300 at other companies in Plymouth. Such is the scale of the refit that another 700 jobs in the industrial supply chain across the UK will also be sustained. HMS Vengeance is one of the UK's four Vanguard Class submarines, designed to carry the UK's Trident nuclear missiles.

The first Successor submarine is due to be delivered in 2028, replacing the Vanguard Class submarines which currently carry the UK’s nuclear deterrent - Trident. Although a decision on the final design and build will not be made until 2016, detailed work has to take place now to ensure that the Successor submarines will be the most technologically advanced, to protect national security. Contracts have been awarded to BAE Systems, Babcock and Rolls-Royce, sustaining or creating 1,900 jobs at sites across the UK. Engineers at the companies will work with the MoD on the design of the new submarines which will use a new nuclear propulsion system. The largest contract, worth £328M, has been awarded to BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines, which will work on the overall submarine design.