Top cops say they are taking allegations of a criminal over-up by the British state “very seriously” and have launched a review of the Nuked Blood evidence
Police have launched a major crime review to assess evidence of a state cover-up about human radiation experiments on troops.
Officers say they are taking “very seriously” allegations that officials at the Ministry of Defence may have hidden a blood testing programme that took place during nuclear weapon trials in the Cold War.
Parliament and the courts have repeatedly been told no monitoring of troops took place. Details of blood and urine testing, and chest x-rays, have subsequently been found on a secret database at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, locked from view on the grounds of national security.
News of the review comes after the Mirror revealed the names of Boris Johnson, Keir Starmer, and serving government officials had been handed to police as potential witnesses.
Alan Owen of campaign group LABRATS said: “Veterans have been waiting 70 years to be taken seriously, and it is a relief to know these issues are being looked into at long last. What we need now is a thorough police investigation to expose the MoD’s institutional rot to the light.”
The Nuked Blood Scandal blew open after the Mirror uncovered a 1958 memo discussing the “gross irregularities” found in blood tests of Group Captain Terry Gledhill, who flew through the mushroom clouds.
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The data collected by weapons scientists was later found to be missing from his medical files. A complaint was made to the Met Police in May, with a 500-page dossier of evidence.
The Met refused to investigate, saying it was the jurisdiction of Thames Valley Police, which oversees the county of Berkshire where the AWE is based. Victims Commissioner Baroness Newlove intervened to urged a decision in veterans’ interests, as campaigners felt the scandal’s connections to government and Whitehall made it the Met’s responsibility.
Chief Constable Jason Hogg of Thames Valley Police said: “Given the extent and complexity of the material within the dossier, and the seriousness and complexities of the crimes alleged against a range of bodies and individuals, TVP is undertaking a thorough review to assess for the crimes that may need to be investigated and where the ownership of an investigation should most appropriately sit.
“Please be assured that TVP is taking this very seriously and that momentum is not being lost; we have our highly experienced head of TVP’s Major Crime Review Team personally undertaking the review, reporting into one of my assistant chief constables. This is critical groundwork for circumstances of such significance and scale.”
He said the force was liaising with the Met “to ensure that, for the victims’ sake, the decision on ownership and set-up by policing of any required criminal investigation ensures that it is conducted in the most effective way.”
It comes as the Lib Dems have urged Labour and the Tories to confirm they will co-operate with any investigation. Defence spokesman Helen Maguire said: “As MPs, we owe it to our veterans to assist them in their pursuit of justice, and do whatever it takes to uncover the truth. As more and more of our nuclear test veterans pass away each week, I urge anyone with information to come forward, and the government must go further and faster in their efforts for the veterans.”
A ministerial review of the files is underway and the first part of the AWE database is due to be declassified later this year. The government says the criminal allegations are false and there is no evidence to support them.