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| Theresa May knew about Trident failure before renewal vote | Theresa May knew about Trident failure before renewal vote |
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| Theresa May was told about the test of a Trident missile that reportedly misfired, two weeks before she held a House of Commons vote on renewing the £40bn nuclear system. | Theresa May was told about the test of a Trident missile that reportedly misfired, two weeks before she held a House of Commons vote on renewing the £40bn nuclear system. |
| The prime minister’s spokeswoman insisted on Monday that the submarine HMS Vengeance and its crew were “certified” afterwards because the operation was successful. But she repeatedly refused to deny the Sunday Times report that a missile veered off course when fired during the test. | The prime minister’s spokeswoman insisted on Monday that the submarine HMS Vengeance and its crew were “certified” afterwards because the operation was successful. But she repeatedly refused to deny the Sunday Times report that a missile veered off course when fired during the test. |
| Interviewed on Sunday on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show, May declined four times to say what she knew about the apparent malfunction of the missile. | Interviewed on Sunday on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show, May declined four times to say what she knew about the apparent malfunction of the missile. |
| Labour has been granted an urgent question on the Trident test, meaning Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, or one of his junior ministers, will have to appear before MPs on Monday afternoon. | |
| Downing Street insisted it was a longstanding policy not to comment on the operational detail of Trident tests, but there was publicity around similar ones in 2005, 2009 and 2012. | |
| “There is not a set approach on whether the outcome of these operations are publicised. You shouldn’t read anything into it not being publicised,” May’s spokeswoman said. | |
| She said the “demonstration and shakedown” operation was undertaken by HMS Vengeance on its return to service following a refit. No 10 said the prime minister was fully briefed on the test and informed that the operation was successful, allowing Vengeance and its crew to return to service with “absolute confidence” in its capabilities. | |
| However, the Sunday Times reported that there was a serious malfunction with the firing of the unarmed missile, meaning it may have veered back towards the US rather than heading towards the west coast of Africa. | |
| Asked whether she was disputing the facts of this story that the missile misfired, the spokeswoman said: “I am not going to get into operational details.” | |
| Weeks after the test, and shortly after May replaced David Cameron as prime minister, MPs voted overwhelmingly to spend up to £40bn on renewing Trident. | |
| May is facing growing discontent from senior Tories, Labour and the SNP about the failure to disclose problems with the test before that vote. | |
| Cameron has hit back at the suggestion by a senior Conservative MP that his government attempted to cover up a failed test. | |
| A spokesman representing the former prime minister responded to comments by Julian Lewis, the Tory chair of the defence committee, who called for somebody to be sacked over the controversy. | |
| The spokesman said it was “entirely false” to suggest that Cameron’s media team tried to cover up the incident, arguing that they were “disappointed” that the MP would make the claim. | |
| Lewis told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This sort of event is not one you can play both ways. These tests are routine but infrequent in this country. Whenever they work, which is 99% of the time, film is released of them working, so whichever person decided they wanted to draw a veil over one that didn’t work should have been sacked. You have always got to assume that something like this will come out.” | |
| John Whittingdale, the former culture secretary, also criticising May’s response to questions about the test. “I don’t know if they had discussed what line she should take but I suspect her apparent inability to answer was not the best answer,” he told Radio 4’s Westminster Hour. |