Theresa May has refused on four occasions to say if she knew about a nuclear missile misfire while she argued for Trident renewal.
An unarmed weapon, fired from submarine HMS Vengeance near the Florida coast, veered off course towards the US last June, according to the Sunday Times.
That was just weeks before a crucial Commons vote on the future of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, of which HMS Vengeance is a part, and the Prime Minister was pushed on the issue when she appeared on the BBC’s 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.”
Asked again “did you know”, the Conservative leader replied: “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.”
.@theresa_may refuses to say whether she knew about Trident misfire before Commons speech and vote #marr pic.twitter.com/FZBdWC6MF7
— The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) January 22, 2017
On the third challenge, she answered: “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. I believe in defending our country.
“Jeremy Corbyn voted against it. He doesn’t want to defend our country with an independent nuclear deterrent.”
Asked simply “did you know” for a fourth time, Mrs May said: “There are tests which take place all the time regularly for our nuclear deterrents.
“What we were talking about in that debate was about the future.”
At that point Dundee High-educated Mr Marr cut her off, adding: “I’m not going to get an answer to this.”
In July, MPs backed the renewal of Trident by 472 votes to 117, approving the manufacture of four replacement submarines at a current estimated cost of £31 billion.
SNP depute leader Angus Robertson has demanded Mrs May comes to parliament to explain the situation.
Labour former defence minister Kevan Jones demanded an inquiry into the incident.
According to the Sunday Times, the cause of the failure remained top secret but questions could be asked over the Government’s failure to publicise the failed test weeks before MPs approved the £40 billion Trident renewal programme in July.
Previous tests have been publicised by the Government.
Mr Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, said: “The Prime Minister must come to parliament this week and outline exactly what she knew – and when – about this reported malfunction and alleged UK government cover up.
“It would be utterly unacceptable, and deeply serious, if it turns out that this information was deliberately kept from MPs at the time of the renewal vote for the Trident weapons of mass destruction programme.
“Parliament and the public have a right to know if these reports are true, and there must be full disclosure about what happened, who knew, when they knew, and why the House of Commons wasn’t informed. The Prime Minister cannot continue to dodge the question.
“Trident is obscenely expensive and morally repugnant. If we now have to add that there is a real possibility it is unreliable and unsafe – then there must be massive question marks about its viability.
Mr Jones said: “The UK’s independent nuclear deterrent is a vital cornerstone for the nation’s defence.
“If there are problems, they should not have been covered up in this ham-fisted way.
“Ministers should come clean if there are problems and there should be an urgent inquiry into what happened.”
A UK Government spokesman said: “The capability and effectiveness of the Trident missile, should we ever need to employ it, is unquestionable.
“In June the Royal Navy conducted a routine unarmed Trident missile test launch from HMS Vengeance, as part of an operation which is designed to certify the submarine and its crew.
“Vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified, allowing Vengeance to return into service. We have absolute confidence in our independent nuclear deterrent.
“We do not provide further details on submarine operations for obvious national security reasons.”
