Royal Navy nuclear sub whistleblower claims being left in limbo after sexual abuse allegations is like ‘a second injury’
A whistleblower who raised the alarm 18 months ago about alleged sexual harassment and abuse onboard the UK’s nuclear-armed submarines says she feels let down and left in limbo by the Royal Navy.
Admiral Sir Ben Key, the head of the navy, ordered an internal inquiry into the claims made in a newspaper interview in October 2022 by Sophie Brook, a former naval officer, and other women about their treatment while serving in the elite Submarine Service.
Summing up her core allegation, Ms Brook, 32, told Sky News: “There is sexual assault, sexual harassment, and misogyny is widespread within the Submarine Service.”
After first going public, she said she had “multiple people contacting me saying the same thing happened to me… that ranged from minor sexual assault all the way up to rape”.
Ms Brook, who could have become the first female captain of a submarine but has since resigned from the navy, gave evidence to the investigation as well as to the military police.
Sophie Brook
She said she was told last year by the navy that the outcome of the inquiry would be made public very soon, but she is still waiting for any kind of update.
“I believe it was back in 2023 – sometime in the summer when they promised that the report was imminent – was the last time I heard from the navy,” she said, sitting with her father, David, also a former naval officer, who has been a huge support to her.
Asked how this made her feel, she said: “It’s rude… it’s like having a second injury.”
Sky News revealed last year how victims of alleged sexual harassment and bullying in the Red Arrows felt they had suffered a second wound from the Royal Air Force after a separate – similarly internal – inquiry dragged on for almost two years, largely in secret.
Sophie with her father, David, who also served in the Royal Navy
Sarah Atherton, a Conservative MP, army veteran and member of parliament’s defence select committee, has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the treatment of women in the armed forces.
She said she was appalled at the length of time it was taking for the Royal Navy to investigate the submarine allegations without providing any kind of update to the victims.
Ms Atherton also called into question the fairness of the entire system of military justice, which enables the individual services to launch so-called non-statutory inquiries into serious allegations that their own officers are then tasked with investigating.
‘Justice delayed is justice denied’
“For victims, witnesses and alleged perpetrators to have to wait 18 months for an outcome – and by all accounts not even being kept up to date – is completely unacceptable,” Ms Atherton said in an interview.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. And the use of non-statutory investigations by the Ministry of Defence is just another way that they’re just marking their own homework.”
Sarah Atherton MP
A spokesperson for the Royal Navy said: “The First Sea Lord is clear that any behaviour which falls short of the highest standards will not be tolerated and anyone found culpable will be held accountable.
“Work around an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour in the Submarine Service is ongoing and given the complex nature of the allegations, it is important to take time to do this thoroughly.”
‘Hostility and harassment from the start’
Ms Brook chose to join the Submarine Service after a ban on female submariners was lifted in 2011. However, she alleged that she suffered hostility and harassment from the start.
The situation was so grave she said it badly impacted her mental health, prompting her to start self-harming even while serving for months at a time onboard the nuclear-armed submarines that provide the UK’s nuclear deterrence – the cornerstone of UK security.
Pic: PA
She said she initially raised concerns internally about her alleged mistreatment.
But she claimed that the Royal Navy turned on her, accusing her of fraud and of revealing information about the movement of a submarine.
On the fraud charge, Ms Brook said she decided to plead guilty at court-martial because she had not been allowed more time to produce bank records that she claimed showed she had made car journeys that she had claimed petrol money for.
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‘I didn’t gain a penny’
Showing the Tesco bank records to Sky News, Ms Brook said: “I did not gain a single penny.
“I made many, many journeys home, probably over 20 journeys home that year to see my family. However, they were not always on the exact day that I had put the claim in for, sometimes they were a week later, sometimes they were a week earlier, and sometimes they were on the right day and, you know, the admin was correct.
“But, the navy, I perhaps provided them with an open goal. I was someone that was complaining and making problems, and I absolutely made an admin error and where I believe anyone else and any other male certainly would have been told this is incorrect admin, do it properly next time, I was taken to court martial for it.”
Sophie showed her bank records to Sky News
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Ms Brook said evidence of her fragile mental health had also not been considered by the court.
She read a letter from a senior doctor detailing her mental state at the time.
It said: “Miss Brook’s mental health was discussed with a senior psychiatrist. At this time, her mental health would undoubtedly have affected her judgement. And as such, I do not feel she can be held accountable for her actions.”
Asked about the litigation, the Royal Navy spokesperson said: “All court martial trials are independent and presided over by a judge advocate, who is appointed in the same way as judges in other courts and ensures that matters are handled fairly and in compliance with the law.”
UK
UK has no plans for conscription – but future decisions will respond to ‘new reality’, says minister
The UK is not considering introducing conscription to ready the country for a potential war – but decisions may be needed in the future to respond to the “new reality” we are now living in, a minister has told Sky News.
In an interview with Trevor Phillips, Latvian President Edgars Rinkeviks has urged European countries to follow his country’s lead and “absolutely” introduce conscription, conceding the continent is “quite weak” militarily.
Politics latest: Calls for European nations to reintroduce conscription
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‘Debate’ in Latvia about introducing conscription for women
Asked if the UK government is considering introducing the measure to boost the armed forces, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said it is important the UK does not find itself operating under “old assumptions” – and that it may be “decisions are needed in the future that respond to a new reality”.
He told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We are not considering conscription, but of course we have announced a major increase in defence expenditure.
“We do have to recognise that the world has changed. The phrase ‘step up’ is used a lot. Europe does have to step up in terms of its own defence.
“President Trump isn’t actually the first president to say that, but he said it more loudly and with more force than his predecessors – so, I think we have got to recognise that moment.”
‘UK cannot cling to old assumptions’
He added: “When the world is changing as fast as it is, it’s important that we don’t cling on to old assumptions.
“I think the prime minister has played a tremendous role in recent weeks in responding to that situation and explaining it to the public.
“That is why the decision on increasing defence expenditure was needed.
“It may be why other decisions are needed in the future that respond to a new reality, and that we don’t find ourselves caught operating under the same assumption as we used to in the past when the situation has changed.”
‘Battlefield is changing’
Sir Keir Starmer has promised to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP but has not set out when this will be achieved. Ministers say a defence review to be published this spring will set out a “roadmap” to it.
The number is much lower than the US president has demanded NATO members spend on defence, with Mr Trump saying they should all be spending 5% – an amount last seen during the Cold War.
Asked if the “new reality” involved a bigger army, Mr McFadden said ministers were waiting for the conclusion of the review.
But he added: “One thing is for sure, you would not spend money today on the same things as you would 10 years ago.
“The experience of the three years of the war in Ukraine has shown just how fast the battlefield is changing in terms of cyber, drones, the use of intelligence.”
The Conservatives’ first policy announcement of last year’s general election campaign was that the party would introduce a new form of mandatory National Service for 18-year-olds.
Asked if the Tories still stood by the plan which was in their manifesto, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We are obviously not going to write our manifesto now, so I am not going to recommit to things in the previous manifesto.
“We’ll need to do the thinking properly. I am not going to speculate four years ahead of the election.
“I don’t think it was really exactly conscription that was being proposed, it was a National Citizen Service which is a bit different.
“The idea of getting younger people to do voluntary work and perform useful tasks is not a bad idea.”
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‘Right time’ to think about conscription
Last year, Britain’s former top NATO commander told Sky News it was time to “think the unthinkable” and consider introducing conscription.
General Sir Richard Sherriff, ex-deputy supreme allied commander of the military organisation, said: “I think we need to get over many of the cultural hang-ups and assumptions, and frankly think the unthinkable.
“I think we need to go further and look carefully at conscription.”
Police searching for the suspect in the Kent pub shooting on Valentine’s Day have recovered a body from the River Thames.
Lisa Smith, 43, was killed after she was shot outside The Three Horseshoes in Knockholt on the evening of Friday 14 February.
Later that night, the suspect, named as Edvard Smith, was believed to have fallen into the Thames from the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge which crosses the river at Dartford 17 miles away.
Lisa Smith
Around that time, the suspect’s car containing a handgun was found abandoned on the bridge and a man was seen on the wrong side of the barrier.
About a week after the shooting, Kent Police said they believed Edvard Smith had died after falling into the water.
The force has now said a body was found in the Thames near Rainham in Essex on Friday afternoon. It has not been formally identified but the suspect’s family have been told of the development.
Edvard Smith was known to Ms Smith and there had been no prior contact between the police and the victim or suspect.
‘So much commotion’
Following the shooting, the landlady of The Three Horseshoes, Michelle Thomas, told Sky News she heard two loud bangs that she initially “thought were fireworks” on the night of the attack.
She said there was “so much commotion – screaming, shouting, crying” and the shooting had left the community in “absolute shock”.
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CCTV captures sound of gunshots near fatal shooting site
She said Ms Smith, from Slough, had been to the pub before, “mostly in the summer” but “wasn’t a regular”.
Ms Thomas also said about 30 people were at the pub for dinner, while 20 more were in the bar as the incident unfolded just after 7pm.
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Kent Police said on Saturday: “A body has been recovered by police from the River Thames, which is being linked to a murder investigation in Knockholt.
“On Friday 14 February 2025, Lisa Smith, 43, was killed after she was shot outside a pub in Main Road. The suspect was known to Lisa and later that evening officers found his car abandoned on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. Enquiries established he had fallen into the water below.
“At around 3.45pm on Friday 7 March, a body was located near Rainham, Essex. Formal identification has not yet taken place; however, the man’s family have been informed.”
Parts of the UK are expected to be hotter than the Balearic Islands, Costa del Sol and the Amalfi Coast this weekend.
The country is set to reach the highest temperatures of the year so far, with central England heating up to 20C on Sunday.
Saturday is also set to reach temperatures in the high teens, with East Anglia, northwest England, the north Midlands and North Wales hitting 18-19C, the Met Office said.
Those temperatures are believed to be above average for this time of year.
Get the latest forecast for your area here
Craig Snell, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said there are a “few exceptions” to the “fine and sunny” weekend weather, including areas in the far north of Scotland, but those areas will still be generally dry and sunny.
A map showing warm fronts over the UK on Saturday
Meanwhile, popular holiday destinations in Europe are expected to record cooler temperatures.
A high of 15C is forecast this weekend for Marbella on the south coast of Spain, a maximum of 17C is expected in Ibiza, and 18C is forecast for Sorrento on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.
People were out in force on Saturday, enjoying the warmer weather. Pic: PA
Joggers run along the sea front in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
Pic: PA
Sky News meteorologist Chris England said the warm weekend is not expected to last, with conditions “cooling off from the North on Sunday night and through Monday”.
Colder fronts will start to move across the UK on Monday
By Wednesday the UK will experience wintry showers and cold temperatures
A spell of rain will move south across the country early next week, bringing the return of a few wintry showers in the North and North East.
“While there is uncertainty in the extent of rain and wintry showers through the middle of next week, there is higher confidence that below average temperatures will continue through the week, bringing a very different feel to the mild weather over the weekend,” deputy chief meteorologist Chris Bulmer said.
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Temperatures will drop back below average across the UK from Tuesday, according to the Met Office.
Rural spots in Scotland could plummet as low as -4C, with maximum daytime temperatures typically between 5-8C.
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