Government accused of '˜stonewalling MPs' over Trident as US officials confirm '˜failure'

Responding to an urgent question in the Commons yesterday afternoon, the Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon stuck to the Government line that the submarine in question was “successfully tested” and that there are no doubts about the effectiveness of the system.

But his assurances did little to convince Labour MPs, who complained of a “cover up” after it emerged that Theresa May was made aware of the test before Parliament was asked to vote on the £40bn Trident renewal in July.

Others criticised his refusal to comment on the “operational details” of the test, after defence officials in the US reportedly told American journalists that the missile self-destructed after it detected an anomaly.

Sir Michael was called before MPs in response to reports first published in the Sunday Times that a test conducted last June with the submarine HMS Vengeance resulted in a missile veering off-course.

The Secretary of State told the Commons that he was not willing to discuss the details of the launch “publicly”, but stressed there were no questions “about the capability and effectiveness of our deterrent”.

“All I can do is repeat that HMS Vengeance has successfully been certified again to rejoin the operational cycle,” he said.

“This Government is in no doubt about the capability and effectiveness of our deterrent, and would not have asked this House to endorse the principle of the deterrent and our plans to build four new submarines if there had been any question about the capability and effectiveness of our deterrent.”

His comments followed confirmation from Downing Street that Theresa May was aware that the test was carried out last year, before pressing ahead with a vote on renewal.

The exercise – known as a “demonstration and shake-down” operation – was carried out under the former Prime Minister David Cameron, who was blamed by the Tory MP Julian Lewis for attempting to cover it up.

The accusations were dismissed by Mr Cameron’s spokesman, but Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith yesterday echoed Mr Lewis’ claims of a “cover up”.

She told the Commons: “At the heart of this issue is a worrying lack of transparency and a Prime Minister who’s chosen to cover up a serious incident, rather than coming clean with the British public.

“The British public deserve the facts on a matter as important as Britain’s nuclear deterrent, and they deserve to hear those facts from their prime minister, not in allegations sprawled across a Sunday paper.”

The Labour MP Kevin Brennan went on to accuse the Secretary of State of “stonewalling”, while fellow Labour MP John Woodcock asked whether a “leak inquiry” would take place to find the source of the original report.

And the Wakefield MP Mary Creagh picked up on a CNN report quoting a US official who said the test had “ended in failure” after the missile “[detected] an anomaly”.

She asked Sir Michael why “if this is the case...the British Parliament and the British public the last to know about it”.