Trident 'cover-up' claims: Fallon likely to face questions in Commons

Sir Michael Fallon is expected to be quizzed by MPs later over claims Downing Street covered up a Trident missile test failure just weeks before a crucial Commons vote.

The Defence Secretary is likely to be forced to make a Commons statement or answer an urgent question after Theresa May refused four times in a TV interview to say whether she knew about the malfunction.

The Sunday Times revealed that a Trident II D5 missile veered off course after being launched from the British submarine HMS Vengeance off the coast of Florida in June last year.

It happened only weeks before Mrs May became Prime Minister - but she made no mention of the failed test when she persuaded Parliament to spend £40bn on new Trident submarines on 18 July.

After five-hours of debate, MPs voted in favour of renewing Trident by 472 votes to 117, a majority of 355, on a motion backed by almost the entire Conservative Party and more than half of Labour MPs.

But it was opposed by all Scottish National Party MPs, the Lib Dems and the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong unilateralist who spoke out strongly against Trident during the debate.

:: Analysis - Why the Trident 'cover-up' only makes things worse

Business Secretary Greg Clark told Sky News it was "not the policy of the Government to comment on the various tests of weapons systems" - despite the fact that tests in 2000, 2005, 2009 and 2012 were all publicised.

He also refused to say whether he or the PM knew about the failed test.

Asked in an interview on the Andrew Marr Show if she knew about the test failure when she spoke in the debate, which was one of her first big tests as PM, Mrs May repeatedly refused to answer.

Pressed three more times on whether or not she knew about the missile failure, Mrs May again dodged the question, saying: "There are tests that take place all the time regularly for our nuclear deterrents.

"What we were talking about was a very serious issue."

Responding to the PM's refusal to answer questions, Mr Corbyn told Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News: "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 Scottish National Party's Westminster leader, Angus Robertson MP, 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."

Tory MP Dr Julian Lewis, who chairs the Defence Select Committee of MPs, told Sky News the blame for the cover-up rested with former prime minister David Cameron - not Mrs May.

"I am afraid the Cameron administration has a bad record of playing politics with the nuclear deterrent."

And the Labour peer and former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West said: "I think it is bizarre and stupid that they didn't say that there'd been a firing and that there had been a missile malfunction and that it was a minor fault."