TORY GOVERNMENT TRIDENT COVER UP A DANGEROUS AND WORRYING PRECEDENT
WHO KNEW WHAT ABOUT MISSILE TEST FAILURE?
Ruth has condemned the UK government for withholding details of a serious malfunction in a Trident test launch last June – just weeks before the vote to renew Trident to the tune of £205bn.
It has been widely reported that an unarmed Trident missile fired in the wrong direction towards the US coastline during a test launch. The major failure was not shared publicly ahead of the vote on Trident renewal.
Commenting, Ruth said:
“It is deeply worrying that just weeks before the House of Commons voted to renew Trident, the UK government chose to withhold vital information about a serious Trident missile malfunction that raised doubts about the safety of the technology.
Each time a missile is tested it costs the taxpayer £17m, and these latest reports demonstrate that not only is Trident obscenely expensive but it is potentially unreliable and unsafe.
I have written to West of Scotland Tory MSPs, Jamie Greene, Maurice Golden and Maurice Corry, to ask if they agree with Theresa May’s decision to withhold details of the incident – and whether they back spending billions on Trident whilst slashing defence spending in other areas in Scotland, including the closure of a string of military bases, with little regard for the impact.
The SNP will continue to hold the UK government to account for their lack of transparency and press them for answers on this.”
Ruth Maguire MSP 