TRIDENT MISSILE TEST

That this House is concerned by media reports that a Trident II D5 missile malfunctioned during a test-firing in June 2016, heading towards the US rather than proceeding to its original target off the west coast of Africa; notes that the missiles, which are leased by the UK from the US, have been tested on only four other occasions since 2000; further notes that HMS Vengeance, which returned to active service in December 2015 following four years of refurbishment, has now failed to undertake a successful missile-firing for 16 years, but continues to be deployed; is troubled that the Government took the decision to withhold the malfunction from Parliament, especially when previous tests have been well publicised and Parliament was asked to vote on Government plans to replace the current nuclear weapons system less than a month after the incident took place; and calls for an urgent inquiry into both the missile incident and the decision of the Government to withhold the information from Parliament.