David Cameron is advised to ditch jet fighter plan Mr Hammond's recommendation comes despite 2010's Strategic Defence and Security Review describing Labour's choice for jump-jet carriers as an "error." If No 10 agrees to the reversal in policy, the decision will be formalised at a National Security Council meeting the following Monday. A formal announcement will be made shortly afterwards, before Parliament rises for Easter. Mr Cameron could still back away from making a very difficult and embarrassing political decision, Whitehall sources said last night. "This is by no means a deal which is sealed or done and it could still go either way," said a senior government official. The reversal will have ramifications for Britain as it will no longer be able to operate its planes off American or French carriers, one of the central tenets of the defence review. The Labour administration was criticised in the review for buying carriers that "would have been unable to work properly with our closest military allies." Jim Murphy, the shadow defence secretary, said the reversal would be "one of the biggest public procurement messes for many decades." A MoD spokesman said: "The intention to move to a conventional carrier was always subject to a detailed piece of work to asses the costs and risks involved in converting a Queen Elizabeth class carrier. That work is ongoing.