Trident whistleblower dishonourably discharged from Royal Navy

The Trident safety whistleblower William McNeilly has been dishonourably discharged from the Royal Navy, after publishing an online dossier claiming the UK’s nuclear deterrent was dangerously unsafe.

McNeilly will not face court martial or further action, but has been discharged for “services no longer required”. An MoD spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that AB McNeilly has left the Naval Service, the details of which are a matter for the individual and his employer.

"Throughout the process Able Seaman McNeilly was still being afforded the duty of care that we give all our personnel, as was his family."

In his 18 page report, entitled ‘The Secret Nuclear Threat’, McNeilly outlined a number of safety issues regarding the Trident submarines, including security passes and bags going unchecked, failures in safety testing and on board fires. An investigation was launched following the report, which resulted in Defence Secretary Michael Fallon saying the safety claims had not been proven.

McNeilly has spoken out to confirm that he was dishonourably discharged, saying: "Most people know that I acted in the interest of national security. However, I was still given a dishonourable discharge from the Royal Navy. On the claim that my sole aim was to discredit their public image.

"It is shocking that some people in a military force can be more concerned about public image than public safety.”

He added: ”Personally, I thought honourable discharge would've been nice but I didn't really care if it was honourable discharge or not. I just respectively told them that I'd accept any punishment as long as the accusations against me are true."