Ex Navy chief Admiral Lord West slams government over Trident missile malfunction ‘cover up’

A FORMER Navy chief has slammed the “stupid” decision to “cover up” a botched Trident test that saw a dummy missile headed for America.

Admiral Lord West said that not revealing the Trident nuclear missile system had failed was “quite extraordinary”.

And he called on Defence Secretary Michael Fallon to explain to parliament why the glitch was hushed up and if the government has concerns over Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

He told : “Now they have to reassure us because they were so stupid not to let us see what was going on in June.”

It was revealed today that a Trident II D5 missile – capable of killing millions when fitted with a nuclear warhead – had malfunctioned after being launched from a submarine off the coast of Florida in June last year.

No 10 has been now accused of covering up the botched test, which happened just weeks before Parliament approved the £40billion programme.

Theresa May repeatedly failed to answer direct questions on her knowledge of the misfire this morning.

The Prime Minister didn’t mention the test in her speech where she urged MPs to back the renewal – leading to allegations the malfunction has been covered up.

When asked about her knowledge of the test on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, she said: “I have absolute faith in our Trident missiles.

“When I made that speech in the House of Commons, what we were talking about was whether or not we should renew our Trident, whether or not we should have Trident missiles, an independent nuclear deterrent in the future.

“I think we should defend our country, I think we should play our role in Nato with an independent nuclear deterrent.

“Jeremy Corbyn thinks differently, Jeremy Corbyn thinks we shouldn’t defend our country.”

Asked again, the PM replied: “The issue we were talking about in the House of Commons was a very serious issue.

“It was about whether or not we should renew Trident, whether we should look to the future and have a replacement Trident.

“That’s what we were talking about in the House of Commons, that’s what the House of Commons voted for.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been jumped on the alleged cover up and is calling for a policy of nuclear disarmament.

He said: “We understand the Prime Minister chose not to inform Parliament, and instead it came out through the media.

“It’s a pretty catastrophic error when a missile goes in the wrong direction and while it wasn’t armed, goodness knows what the consequences of that could have been.”

The Sunday Times revealed that the major glitch saw a dummy missile head towards America.

The cause of the failure remains top secret but a senior naval source told the newspaper it may have veered off in the wrong direction.

Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said the failed test “would have impacted on the debate in Parliament on Trident replacement.

“So the Government’s motivation for holding back this vital information is clear.”

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