A Labour minister on Monday rejected suggestions that Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice had been deliberately omitted from the nationwide emergency alert test that failed to reach many phones and tablets across the United Kingdom.
Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard, speaking on Good Morning Britain while attending a defence industry conference, called the claim implausible and said the exercise was a test intended to probe technical arrangements with mobile operators.
"Oh, Ed, you know the, the phrase on this one here, I would love to believe that we were that organised to do that level of conspiracy about Richard Tice," Pollard said on air when pressed by presenter Ed Balls. The exchange prompted laughter from co-presenter Susanna Reid and further light-hearted banter on the show.
The emergency alert system was tested at 3 p.m. on Sunday. The government said the trial was designed to check whether a message and distinctive siren tone could be broadcast to compatible phones and tablets to warn the public of immediate threats to life, such as extreme weather. After the test, numerous reports emerged of people not receiving either the sound or the message, prompting criticism about the system's readiness.
Pollard, the MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport who was promoted to the role at the weekend, emphasised that the exercise was a test and needed evaluation. "We need to make sure that it works and that's precisely why we did that test," he said. "Because we want to see this emergency alert system be able to be used and to be thorough and effective. And that means looking at all the systems, the plumbing that sits behind it."
He noted that the first non-test deployment of the alert system had occurred in his own constituency when an unexploded Second World War bomb was discovered in a residential garden in Plymouth earlier this year, requiring a large-scale evacuation and disposal operation.
Pollard spoke from HMS Mersey, a Royal Navy patrol vessel moored in east London for the Defence and Security Equipment International conference, where he was also outlining the government's new Defence Industrial Strategy. He said the strategy, backed with about ������������������������������������������������������������ 250 million pounds, will direct investment to five local economies — Sheffield, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast and Plymouth — and fund five defence-focused technical colleges intended to boost skilled labour for the sector.
The strategy follows the government's pledge to lift defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, with an ambition to reach 3% within the next decade. Pollard said the initiative was aimed at strengthening the domestic defence industrial base and supporting small, innovative companies to supply the armed forces and export equipment overseas.
Critics and some members of the public have raised questions about the technical rollout of the emergency alerts system after the test, and officials have said they will analyse the results to identify failures and make adjustments. The government has said the alert system remains a key tool for warning citizens of immediate risks to life once operational issues are addressed.