XPost: 24hoursupport.helpdesk, alt.politics.scorched-earth, uk.politics.misc   
   XPost: uk.legal, alt.politics.uk   
   From: burfordTjustice@tues.uk   
      
   Missile failure off Florida? British leader won't say   
      
   LONDON –  The British government is being accused of concealing the failure   
   of an unarmed ballistic missile launch ahead of a debate in Parliament over   
   whether to refurbish the country's aging Trident nuclear launching system.   
      
   Britain's prime minister refused to say Sunday whether she knew about an   
   unarmed Trident missile that reportedly failed when it was test-fired off the   
   coast of Florida last year.   
      
   Theresa May told BBC she has total confidence in Britain's Trident nuclear   
   launching system, but didn't confirm or deny a newspaper report about the   
   alleged failure of a ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear warheads.   
      
   The prime minister was asked about the missile test after the Sunday Times   
   reported that an unarmed missile launched from a submarine off Florida's coast   
   in June veered off course and may have headed toward the U.S.   
      
   The newspaper said top government officials decided to keep the failure of a   
   Trident II D5 ballistic missile out of the public eye because of an upcoming   
   debate the next month in Parliament over whether to spend 40 billion pounds to   
   refurbish the aging    
   Trident, the cornerstone of Britain's nuclear deterrent system.   
      
   "I have absolute faith in our Trident missiles," May said Sunday when asked if   
   she had known about a possible missile failure when she spoke to Parliament in   
   July. "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."   
      
   The government triumphed in that debate, winning overwhelming support for the   
   Trident overhaul in July, but some opposition figures in the British   
   government now seek an inquiry into the reported missile failure and a   
   possible cover-up.   
      
   Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon, who opposes having the Trident   
   submarine fleet based in Scotland, said reports of a failure and cover-up are   
   a "hugely serious issue."   
      
   Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, also a Trident opponent, called it "a   
   pretty catastrophic error."   
      
   The British government hasn't confirmed the newspaper's report of a misfire.   
      
   A government statement posted on a Defense Ministry blog indicated there was a   
   "routine unarmed Trident missile test launch from HMS Vengeance" in June.   
      
   The Royal Navy launch was "part of an operation which is designed to certify   
   the submarine and its crew," the statement said. The Vengeance submarine and   
   its crew were "successfully tested and certified," it said.   
      
   The statement says the government does not provide further details on   
   submarine operations for "obvious" national security reasons.   
      
   The British government's website says Trident has provided Britain's security   
   every day for the last 46 years. The system consists of Vanguard-class   
   submarines which can carry up to 16 Trident ballistic missiles armed with   
   nuclear warheads.   
      
   Defense policy calls for one of the submarines to be on patrol at all times.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)