Footage shows the Defence Secretary calling Britain’s treatment of nuclear veterans a national shame
Cabinet minister says treatment of nuclear veterans is a ‘national shame’
A video has emerged showing Defence Secretary John Healey saying Britain’s continuing mistreatment of nuclear veterans “shames us as a country.”
Filmed three years ago while Labour was in Opposition, it has resurfaced after the revelation that Mr Healey’s promised review into radiation experiments involving UK troops had no budget, staffing or deadline.
In the footage, then-Shadow Defence Secretary Mr Healey told an audience of party members: “If we are the only atomic test country with no recognition, and no compensation reward scheme for those veterans who were put at risk, suffered damage and whose relatives suffered loss and damage as a result, then that shames us. That shames us as a country, and we have to fix it.”
He went on: “There is no good reason, there is no good moral reason, there is no good military reason, for withholding the recognition and compensation that other countries have had.”
Yet 10 months since Labour came to power, there is no compensation scheme, and no recognition beyond a commemorative medal which was authorised by the Tories.
And there has been no explanation of how Parliament heard last week about a leaked letter from the government to veterans’ lawyers which admitted for the first time that scientists may have carried out biological monitoring of the troops without medical supervision.
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The video was recorded before the medal was announced, and before the Mirror published the first evidence of the Nuked Blood scandal which has found evidence that troops had their blood and urine monitored for radiation during the weapons trials, with the results later found to be missing from their medical records.
Shortly before Mr Healey’s speech, Labour leader Keir Starmer had also given his full backing to the veterans. Writing for the Mirror in August 2022, he said: “It’s appalling that Britain’s nuclear test veterans and their families have not yet had justice after years of maltreatment, and I’m saddened that their long campaign is exceeding the life of so many of them.”
He called on then-PM Boris Johnson to deliver the medal and added: “The country owes a huge debt of honour to these veterans. The Prime Minister must act to deliver the appreciation, respect and justice they deserve, and Labour will continue to support their campaign every step of the way.”
Despite expressing his “gratitude” to the veterans after becoming PM, Mr Starmer has made no public comment on the blood test programme, and a “thorough” review of the archives promised to Parliament by Mr Healey has been given no budget with which to find answers.
Peter Stefanovic, lawyer and CEO of the Campaign for Social Justice, unearthed the video of Mr Healey speaking at an event for the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool in 2022. His campaign videos regularly chalk up millions of views on social media, and provoke public outrage.
He said: “If the state was conducting medical tests upon servicemen and not informing them when they found serious irregularity, that is at the very least misconduct in public office and, more serious, perhaps gross negligence manslaughter in respect of people who have died.”
He added: “This is no way for the government to treat national heroes. This country owes them and their families a huge debt of honour and gratitude. But instead, successive governments have stonewalled them and subjected them to decades of maltreatment and injustice.
“Labour made their position quite clear in opposition but now in government there’s still no compensation scheme in sight and no money has been made available for the ‘thorough’ review promised. Let’s show these national heroes they’re not alone, let’s show them by standing should to shoulder with them now, and by honouring the enormous sacrifice they’ve made for this country.”
Veteran families have reacted with fury to the video, which they had hoped was a guarantee Labour would not betray them.
Janet Barton, whose husband Eric was among thousands of troops ordered to take part in 24 US bomb tests at Christmas Island in 1962, said: “Tell us anything to get our vote. None of them keep their word and promises. They should hang their heads in shame.”
Colin Duncan, who as part of 543 Squadron has been denied the medal after sampling the mushroom clouds of French and Chinese tests in the Pacific in the 1970s, said: “They are all the same. It’s the people in the background who are stopping this going ahead… show yourselves or you have no shame at all. Look at what you are doing and have done. You should have been taken to court years ago under health and safety and then charged with manslaughter to say the least.”
