US official contradicts Government claims over rogue nuclear weapons 'failure'

Theresa May refused to answer whether she knew about the test failure four times on the Andrew Marr Show BBC/Handout via REUTERS

A Trident missile did malfunction last year, a US official has confirmed – as MPs were told they were not allowed to know the truth.

The rogue missile had to be ordered to “self-destruct” off the Florida coast, the American news channel CNN was told today.

It did not “veer” towards the US – as reported yesterday – the official said, but was diverted into the sea under an automatic procedure when a fault is detected.

To the embarrassment of Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, the report smerged as he insisted, in the Commons, that no details of the botched test could be revealed.

This article will be updated shortly