The Carrier Affair was a political scandal that occurred in the British Empire in the 1960s as the result of attempts by the Labour government to cancel the Lion-class battleships and King George VI-class aircraft carriers.
The scandal began with the government's attempts to cancel the Lion- and King George VI-classes as the prelude to extensive defense cuts. When the Royal Navy launched an investigation into alternatives to these cancellations, including a conventionally-powered aircraft carrier proposed by the Minister of Defense. During the investigation, it was discovered that the proposed conventional carrier was designed by a close personal friend of the Minister of Defense, and that the Minister of Defense's secretary was a spy from the Union of American People's Republics. When the Prime Minister accused investigating officers of incompetence and slander, public backlash caused the Minister of Defense to resign. A vote of no confidence subsequently removed the Prime Minister from power.
When the status of the Minister's Secretary became public knowledge in the aftermath of the Great Defection even more Labour MPs left the Party, beginning it's long downward spiral to it's modern day status as a fringe party.