Jim Murphy: BAE job losses a body blow

The weapons and hi-tech manufacturer, BAE Systems, has confirmed it is cutting nearly 3,000 jobs.

Most of the redundancies will be at sites in Lancashire and East Yorkshire.

The Unite union says it is a hammer blow to the UK defence industry, and has called for talks with the government on protecting the sector.

The shadow defence secretary, Jim Murphy, told the BBC the way the workers were told about the job losses was a textbook demonstration "of how not to do it".

He also said the job losses were a "body blow" for the workers and their families.