As the BBC airs a documentary with harrowing details of radiation experiments on British troops, Labour is given six weeks to avoid a crippling legal bill
The government’s bill for the Nuked Blood Scandal could top £5billion, it has been warned.
The potential compensation figure comes after the BBC screened a shattering documentary exposing the cover-up of medical records from troops used in Cold War radiation experiments.
The 75-minute film, called Britain’s Nuclear Bomb Scandal: Our Story,showed entire families left with lifelong trauma and chronic illness, along with the Mirror ’s investigation into secret blood testing of troops, civilians and indigenous people.
The results were hidden behind claims of national security until this May when the Atomic Weapons Establishment was ordered to publish 4,000 pages of evidence that had been classified behind national security. Despite this, the Ministry of Defence insists no records are withheld.
It is thought 160,000 people could have a claim, and solicitors acting for the veteran families say the total bill would dwarf the £1.8bn recently announced for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal. They are giving the government six weeks to respond.
Human rights lawyer Jason McCue said: “Even if only a quarter of those affected can proceed, the financial exposure for the government is vast.
“It increases with each denial, which bizarrely continue even after the government has declassified the evidence it still denies having.
“The veterans’ average age is 86 and their patience has rightly worn thin. They have offered an alternative that would limit the time and expense, but with no response. The Prime Minister must know that with every day he ignores this, the final cost – to budgets and reputation – only rises.”
Legal action was launched in March under the previous government, and the incoming Labour administration was informed. After the general election, lawyers renewed the offer to end litigation in return for a one-year special tribunal, led by a judge, with the power to investigate, adjudicate, compensate and commemorate.
Even though it would end the risk of an expensive and lengthy lawsuit, and despite Labour’s promises in Opposition to deliver compensation to the veterans, the Ministry of Defence has failed to respond.
Last year, John Healey – who is now Defence Secretary – told the Labour Party Conference: “There is no good reason, no good moral reason, no good military reason, for withholding the recognition and compensation that other countries have had. Your campaign is our campaign. It is a pledge we are determined to deliver.”
He now faces a deadline of December 31 to agree to the tribunal, or litigation – and a possible police investigation into criminal misconduct in public office by numerous serving officials who suppressed the medical records – will begin.
Estimates of likely damages range from a minimum of £48,000 a head to three times that in more serious cases.
* EXPOSED – The Secret History of Britain’s Nuclear Experiments is available now from Pen&Sword
