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<p>As the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend, the Member for Sevenoaks,
(Michael Fallon) reported in his Written Statement of 28 May 2015 (Column 1WS), and
as I reiterated during the Adjournment Debate the same day (Column 293), the Royal
Navy's investigation into Able Seaman NcNeilly's concerns found most of them to be
either factually incorrect or the result of mis- or partial understanding.</p><p>Some
of his concerns drew on historical, previously known events, none of which had compromised
our deterrent capability and from which, where appropriate, lessons had been learned
to develop our procedures as part of a continuous improvement programme.</p><p>Only
one of his allegations remains to be fully concluded - that electronic cigarettes
were used onboard the submarine. No corroborative evidence that this practice was
taking place has been found. The chain of command is considering if certain products
may be suitable for use onboard submarines in the future. As I said in the Debate,
it is not possible or reasonable to provide complete transparency on all that has
been found, as this concerns the protection of the deterrent capability.</p>
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