Campaign Update

As we move into March 2026, we wanted to share updates on the Campaign for Truth and Justice. A lot of work has already been undertaken with government officials and the police.

Thames Valley Police - Misconduct in Public Office

We wrote to the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police regarding the investigation into the Misconduct in Public Office. We received this response:

Obviously, they are extremely busy investigating the Misconduct in Public Office complaints for Lord Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. It is reassuring that the response will be received in a matter of weeks rather than months.

We will await their response and update you all as soon as we receive it.

Missing Records - Blood & Urine tests

Representatives from LABRATS are meeting weekly with the Office for Veterans' Affairs (OVA) regarding the missing medical records. We are working closely with the team from the OVA and have been making good progress.

The report will hopefully be due in the next three months. This report will examine the orders, policies and storage of medical records, specifically blood and urine tests.

The problem of accessing medical records for veterans and their families is still outstanding, and we continue to press the government to publish guidance for access to the records, especially for the descendants.

Meeting with the Prime Minister

We have held talks with the Prime Minister's office for a meeting and have coordinated this with the Office for Veterans' Affairs so that our meeting will be held at the most productive time for both parties.

We do not want to meet with the Prime Minister without him being briefed on the records review and any recommendations that it may have. We need to ensure that our limited time with him is used to the maximum advantage for the community.

We believe that this meeting will be in late April / May, depending on the report production and other external factors such as by-elections and local government elections.

Merlin Database Release - Law Clinic Project

A groundbreaking new initiative that will support nuclear test veterans, their families, and affected communities has been launched at The University of Liverpool. The project will catalogue and analyse the recently declassified Merlin files. The Nuclear Justice Law Clinic Project is a community-led project based in The Centre for People’s Justice at the University of Liverpool. Academics Dr Jon Hogg and Professor Helen Stalford have assembled a team guided by LABRATS and representatives from the nuclear community, including award-winning journalist Susie Boniface and Professor Chris Hill from the University of South

Wales.

There are approximately 28,000 government files in the Merlin database. Restricted for decades for reasons of national security by the Atomic Weapons Establishment for the Ministry of Defence, ministers have now ordered their declassification. Held at The National Archives, the collection includes material relating to the UK’s nuclear testing programme from 1952. In their current form, the files are almost impossible to access and analyse.

As part of the Liverpool project, 30 undergraduate and postgraduate students from politics, history, law and social sciences have received specialist training and in 2026 will work on the first systematic cataloguing of the Merlin files. The work will lead to a public resource for use by historians, researchers, journalists and the worldwide nuclear community.

PROFESSOR HELEN STALFORD

Liverpool’s strong track record of social justice research, including its award-winning Hillsborough law clinic work, and a recent major oral history recognition project for British nuclear test veterans carried out in partnership with The University of South Wales and The British Library. Dr Jon Hogg said, ‘exploring the Merlin database like this marks a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Liverpool is uniquely placed to lead this urgent work on behalf of the nuclear community, thanks to our established partnerships, interdisciplinary expertise, and powerful commitment to social justice. We are also launching the Nuclear Justice Research Network this year, which will be a forum for researchers, members of the nuclear community and other stakeholders to share ideas and resources centred on nuclear

justice.’

McCue Jury & Partners - Pushing for a Special Tribunal – Legal Update

The following update has been received from McCue Jury & Partners about the ongoing case:

As you know, the fight for justice for the nuclear test veterans is ongoing. Our efforts form part of the long struggle fought by brave veterans and their families over many decades; a fight for justice, transparency and accountability from the MOD. We wanted to share a few significant and recent updates in the campaign.

Push for a Special Justice Tribunal

As you will have seen in the last issue of ATOM, we continue to work to build a legal challenge that will effectively hold the MOD to account and align with the wishes of the nuclear test veteran as a whole – to establish truth and accountability regarding the nuclear tests through a special tribunal.

We believe that pushing for a special tribunal – with the power to find out the truth about what happened in the South Pacific and adjudicate on compensation awards – is the most effective and economically viable way to obtain justice for all nuclear test veterans and their families, in a quicker time frame than what could be lengthy and expensive litigation. In the last issue of ATOM, we sought the views of the nuclear test veteran community on this proposal and are very pleased to have received overwhelming support.

Given the level of support we received, we have been working with an experienced King’s Counsel to explore the most effective strategy. We have made good progress in this regard, and we hope to have a further, more detailed update in this regard by the time of the next issue of ATOM.

Since early 2024, alongside preparing for litigation, we have been urging the government to come to the table and work with us to structure a tribunal of this type. We are pleased to see some increased support amongst MPs and are now working to dovetail both our legal and political efforts.

‘Classified’ Documents Released by the MOD

The MOD has now begun to release the Merlin Database (a considerably large body of previously ‘classified’ MOD documents) to the national archives. The campaign is working in collaboration with the University of Liverpool to sift through the vast number of documents, organise them and consider whether they shed further light on what really went on in the South Pacific, potentially exposing MOD wrongdoing and proving further weight to the nuclear test veterans’ claims.

We continue to use Freedom of Information requests to try to obtain documentation we believe is being withheld from the nuclear test veteran community, and to monitor the government’s progress regarding its so-called investigation into the blood and medical records. We will keep the community updated in this regard.

As always, thank you for your trust and continued support. We remain committed to maintaining the pressure on the government and securing the justice the nuclear test veterans deserve.

McCue Jury & Partners

'Our Planet, The People, Our Blood' - Screenings across the country

Screenings of the fantastic documentary 'Our Planet, The People, My Blood' will be taking place in March and April across the country. The world premiere will take place on 12th March at the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square, London. Further screenings will be added as they become available.

Find a Screening Near You

Conclusion

As you can see, we continue to work on behalf of the community. We are excited to see the findings of the missing records report and the recommendations. We hope that they will be beneficial to the community. We await the Thames Valley Police response after their investigation.

With many conferences scheduled for this year and work with the Nuclear Truth Project and the University of Liverpool, the truth about the nuclear testing program continues to be exposed.

Our work is expanding across the world, and we welcome input from any members of the Nuclear Community. If anyone is available for panel participation after one of the documentary screenings, please contact us.