Lewisham hospital announcement: Politics live blog It's a mixed day today, but not a dull one. Already we've had Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, Kenneth Clarke, the minister without portfolio, and Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, giving interviews. Here are the main points. Philip Hammond played down suggestions that the Conservatives would increase the defence budget after 2015. This morning the BBC has been reporting that David Cameron "will stick to a commitment to increase defence spending above the rate of inflation after 2015." But the defence secretary said this only applied to equipment spending. "I think what the prime minister was referring to was the pledge that was made - which Treasury ministers have repeated - that the equipment plan, the part of the defence budget which funds equipment, will rise by 1% a year in real terms after 2015," he said. Kenneth Clarke told the Today programme that he did not think Cameron could support leaving the EU. He also said that he expected Britain to opt back in to around 30 EU justice measures having exercised its right to opt out of more than 100 of them. Ed Miliband said that he was opposed to plans to close the A&E department at Lewisham hospital. "I hope they'll save the A&E in Lewisham because I think it's very important for people there and I think we've seen a huge groundswell of people in Lewisham who are really concerned about what's happening there," he said. I'll take a look at the interviews in more detail shortly. 9am: Nick Clegg takes part in his regular LBC phone-in. 9.45am: Accountancy firms give evidence to the Commons public accounts committee on tax avoidance. 10am: Chris Moncrieff, the former Press Association political editor, and Steve Richards, the Independent columnist, give evidence to the Commons public accounts committee on reshuffles. 10.45am: Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, gives a speech on poverty. As Juliette Jowit reports, he will say that drug and alcohol addiction, family breakdown, going to a failing school and living in a home with no working adult could all be included in a future measure of child poverty. Around 12pm: Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, makes an announcement about the future of the A&E department at Lewisham hospital.