London Mayor Sadiq Khan has thrown his weight behind an investigation of alleged crimes against veterans of nuclear weapons testing
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has written to nuclear veteran campaigners backing their fight for a police investigation of alleged crimes by the British state.
He has supported them in their battle for answers about a hidden programme of blood and urine testing on troops ordered to take part in nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War.
Families made a criminal complaint of misconduct in public office to the Met Police in May, backed with a 500-page dossier of proof that the biological monitoring was hidden behind national security at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, and that judges and Parliament were repeatedly misled about its existence.
But the Met refused to even look at the evidence, instead deciding that as the AWE is in Berkshire the matter is the jurisdiction of Thames Valley Police.
Campaigners accused the Met of “refusing to investigate its neighbours”, as many of the allegations centred on the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall.
Families and MPs had asked the Labour mayor to “lean in” to ensure the complaint was properly assessed amid concerns that the complaint will become “a game of official ping-pong”, with both police forces fearing political repercussions of a criminal inquiry.
In its three-year investigation the Mirror has found that thousands of troops were subject to orders for the monitoring, but the results have subsequently been removed from their medical records. Evidence shows chest x-rays were conducted without clinical reason, and troops gave no consent to be part of the weapons experiments.
Mayor Khan previously signed an open letter with seven other metro mayors saying nuke veterans “served on the most dangerous of operations thousands of miles from home, where they were exposed to life-threatening levels of radiation”.
The 2021 letter called for “truth and justice” and said “time is running out for us to do the right thing”. It added: “The government has denied them the opportunities they deserve and refused to give any compensation for the medical conditions that have dominated their lives.”
Now he has written again to campaigners personally to express his “gratitude” to nuclear veterans “and to all those who have served in our nation’s armed forces for their work to keep our communities safe”.
He said that, while he had no authority to direct police investigations, as the mayor is in effect the Police and Crime Commissioner for London, he had ordered staff to contact the Met on his behalf “on this important matter”. They have “been advised that this investigation has been passed to and accepted by Thames Valley Police”, he said.
He expressed his hope that the investigation would proceed and urged campaigners to contact the new force to keep up the pressure.
A spokesman for the mayor said he had “the utmost respect” for veterans and Thames Valley “will take this investigation forward”.
Thames Valley Police has confirmed that its investigations team “is in the very early stages” of reviewing the evidence dossier, and it is expected to take “a considerable time due to the amount of information”.