Kevin Brennan
Main Page: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)Department Debates - View all Kevin Brennan's debates with the Ministry of Defence
Trident: Test Firing
Kevin Brennan Excerpts(7 years, 9 months ago)
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Sir Michael Fallon
The security and effectiveness of the deterrent are of course underlined by the testing and shakedown programme, in which boats come out of their long-term refit and are tested again to see whether they are fit and ready to rejoin the operational cycle, which is what HMS Vengeance has now done.
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)
Does not the Secretary of State’s characteristic “Name, rank and serial number—don’t tell him, Pike” approach actually make no sense at all given that, following the reports we have had, our American counterparts in Congress will certainly be given full details of what happened in the test? Does not his stonewalling do nothing to strengthen our security and everything to undermine the credibility of this House?
Sir Michael Fallon
This is our deterrent carried by our submarine. The secrecy that we—I think rightly—put around it is in our national interest.