A Positive Day

Today has been a positive day for the Nuclear Community. An extremely busy day of meetings culminated with the Adjournment debate in Parliament.

The day started with a letter from the Prime Minister regarding our correspondence last week. A firm commitment from him to our cause.

We are working with number 10 to schedule a meeting with the Prime Minister so that it is at the optimum time. He needs to be briefed on the records review and the answers to the many questions raised in the adjournment debate. It is not a case of delay; it is to make sure we have as much ammunition as possible and can ensure his full support. It is not if he will meet us, just when. We are in constant communication with Number 10 and in direct contact with his team.

We then received a letter from the Secretary of State for Defence, John Healey.

John has supported us for many years, and we trust in him to end the 74-year wait for truth and justice.

We then attended a meeting with the Minister for Veterans and People, Louise Sandhers-Jones, before she was due to appear at the adjournment debate in Parliament this afternoon.

We expressed our concerns about the response to the Environmental Monitoring Report, and she took everything on board. She promised us her full commitment to the Nuclear Test Veterans and that she would do everything she could to ensure full transparency and to ensure that the Office for Veterans' Affairs (OVA) would investigate the matter as a matter of urgency.

We then attended a meeting with the OVA to discuss the medical report review and the progress made so far, with the report due very soon.

During our meeting, the adjournment debate organised by Rebecca Long-Bailey MP started in Parliament. It was very well attended, and we thank every MP who attended the debate, including Sir John Hayes, John McDonnell, Ian Byrne, Sam Carling, Helen Maquire and Rachel Hopkins.

You can watch the full debate here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGj_R8Ot-k4

As you can see, the Minister for Veterans and People was visibly upset by the revelations, and we believe that she will act in our best interests after meeting her today.

The momentum is gathering pace for a resolution to the Nuclear Test Veteran scandal. We have the evidence, the support in Parliament, and we continue to make sure that the quest for truth and justice continues.

A big thank you to Steve Purse and Steve Foote for attending the meetings and for their incredible support. Further meetings are scheduled this week, and we will resume our weekly meetings with the OVA next week.

Conclusion

It is through pressure from MP's, letters and working with officials at the OVA that we have got this far. The OVA team are working incredibly hard on our behalf, and the Ministers (including the PM) are firmly committed to our cause. We have never been in the position we are in, but we don't have any firm commitments yet, but we are close.

Write to your MP, keep commenting on Social Media, keep your voice heard, and we will ensure that we keep representing you at the highest level. When we have further updates, we will update you all.

Time for a rest now, there is more work to do tomorrow. Please take care.