By: Patrick Foley
Able Seaman William McNeilly released an 18-page report in late May which revealed shocking security lapses in Britain’s Trident nuclear defense system. Trident is an operational system of four Vanguard-class submarines armed with Trident ballistic missiles, able to deliver nuclear warheads. The program is operated by the Royal Navy and based at Clyde Naval Base on Scotland’s west coast. A major aspect of the program is that while one submarine undergoes maintenance and the other two carry out maneuvers, at least one submarine is constantly on patrol to provide a continuous at-sea deterrent against foreign aggression. Each submarine is capable of hitting a target up to 7,500 miles away.
Incidents included in McNeilly’s report ranged from failures in testing whether missiles could safely be launched, to complaints about food hygiene and senior officers cheating on routine tests of competency. He also described the outcomes of security tests he ran himself over the course of his time serving in the Royal Navy. These results included security passes and bags going unchecked at the Faslane submarine base, alarms being muted by seamen “to avoid listening” to them, and multiple stories of fires starting in missile compartments. McNeilly said he raised these concerns through the normal channels on multiple occasions, but that “not once did someone even attempt to make a change”.
Mr. McNeilly said his aim was, “to break down the false images of a perfect system that most people envisage exists”, but his noble goal has not protected him from jail time. He turned himself in to authorities May 18th, at Edinburgh Airport after a brief time spent away without leave, and is now being held by Royal Navy Police at a military establishment in Scotland. The Ministry of Defense said that Seaman McNeilly will face consequences for being absent without leave but would not comment on whether he will face any sort of proceedings over his Trident report.
A Navy spokesman said: “The Royal Navy takes security and nuclear safety extremely seriously and we are fully investigating both the issue of the unauthorized release of this document and its contents. The naval service operates its submarine fleet under the most stringent safety regime and submarines do not go to sea unless they are completely safe to do so.” The only group within the British government that has publicly disagreed with the sentiments expressed by the Royal Navy is the Scottish National Party (SNP). The SNP’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson said that McNeilly’s report was, “a nightmare catalog of serious safety breaches aboard and alongside these nuclear-armed submarines”. The SNP called for a chance to discuss the issue in the House of Commons on May 28th, and at this meeting, Defense Minister Mordaunt was quoted saying that the government is firmly committed to renewing at-sea deterrents despite the SNP’s opposition.
This report highlights two different but interrelated debates. On one level we as individuals need to decide whether we will prioritize loyalty to our governments or loyalty to those people our governments seek to serve. On another level, we as a society have to figure out what changes have to be made to the command structure of the Royal Navy and other powerful government bodies to keep them accountable to the public without individuals having to come forward and start these debates for them. Whichever debate you choose to focus on and whichever side of that debate you choose to support, McNeilly has risked his career and his freedom to spur the conversation. The least we can do is actually have it.