Phillip Hammond’s PPS Penny Mordaunt has not always been this quiet about the naval shipyard in her constituency. In January she wrote in the House magazine:

“Speculation, fuelled in part by the President of the Board of Trade, has it that Portsmouth shipyard will close for buildwork. Naturally, Portsmouth’s economic future is at the fore of my mind, but I am equally concerned about sovereign capabilities and the affordability of the new fleet.”

The rousing article concluded:

“A decision to close Portsmouth would not just be the wrong choice of port; it would be the wrong approach to Britain’s future navel defences and growth agenda. Britain needs Portsmouth.”

So if shutting Portsmouth was bad for growth and UK security in January, what has changed since then? Besides Penny’s promotion…