Lobbydog...

Friday 16 July 2010

Liam Fox needs to honour British nuclear veterans...

I’ve done some stuff on the British nuclear test veterans before and there has been a development this week worth highlighting.

The British Government set off 20 odd nuclear devices in Australia and the South Pacific in the 50s and 60s, with 20,000 servicemen taking part in the tests.

Most of the soldiers were British but there were also some from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

Around 1,000 mostly British veterans who say they are suffering from various forms of cancer and other illness as a result of radiation exposure during the tests are now trying to claim compensation from the Ministry of Defence.

The MoD is staunchly refusing to accept responsibility or pay out, but diplomatic papers revealed this week that the British Government was prepared to fork out £20m to help settle the claims of Australian veterans.

You can see the papers yourself at the website Nuclear Test Shame, and link on to read the full story.

The whole thing has obviously infuriated Brits who can’t work out why their own Government won’t give them recognition - they are calling it a betrayal.

A scandalous on-going saga that Liam Fox needs to address.