Mayor Andy Burnham said the new Hillsborough Law can protect government whistleblowers who can finally tell the truth about radiation experiments on troops
Officials have been urged to turn whistleblower and end the longest-running scandal in British history.
Government staff were told they could use the protections of the new Hillsborough Law to finally reveal the truth about radiation experiments on troops before it comes into force.
The call came from Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham who told the Labour Party conference “everyone in Whitehall” should hear of the impact it had on veterans and their families.
“I would say to any civil servant, anybody who has worked at the Ministry of Defence or in the forces over the years, who knows the truth about this scandal to speak out now, using the provisions of that bill in Parliament, the spirit of it,” he said.
“I hope somehow they can hear this appeal… that’s your cover to speak out now, to start to work with us to right this wrong.”
The Mirror has campaigned for 40 years on behalf of veterans who claimed to be used as “guinea pigs” at Cold War nuclear weapons tests. But the MoD challenged them to provide the evidence, and spent millions on legal battles.
In 2023 we found the first proof of a mass programme of blood testing, with results removed from medical records and held behind national security at the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
Ministers have now ordered the release of thousands of files, but questions about why they were ever classified, and requests to meet Keir Starmer, have hit a brick wall.
At a fringe event Burnham agreed the veterans were at a moment of “maximum peril” in “a live cover-up”, and said there was a risk of “a traditional Whitehall stitch-up” if a public inquiry was finally ordered. He cited a 1997 whitewash of the Hillsborough tragedy which just did more damage to victims.
Instead, nuclear campaigners have asked for a one-year special justice tribunal, with capped costs and agreed outcomes, to uncover the lies and deliver rapid justice. About 2,000 veterans survive, with an average age of 87.
Burnham said: “I would warn my own party: do not make the same mistakes again. Veterans are now the same age as politicians’ parents… if I think of my parents now still having to fight for justice at their age, I can’t even begin to get my head around how that would feel. It’s morally repugnant… There is time to put this right, use Hillsborough Law, to ask ministers to come and meet our nuclear test veterans.”
Alan Owen of campaign group LABRATS said there had been private meetings with ministers, but “we’re getting lots of good vibes, but very little public commitment”.
Steve Purse, who has spent three years battling for his dad’s medical records in the hope they will explain his family’s genetic issues, added: “It feels like all the promises we’ve had from Labour are empty ones. We keep asking to meet the PM and there’s just silence.”