Tory sunk by Navy blunder

A TORY defence minister has been lashed for claiming all Royal Navy warships are fully operational even when tied up in dock.

Earl Howe made the gaffe as peers debated the state of the fleet.

He said: “They may be subject to training of crew [or] alongside having refits or on deployments. But none are non-functional.”

Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith accused him of complacency in the face of a “crisis of recruitment and retention under this Government”.