MP's have always replied with standard paragraphs in letters sent by Veterans.
The House of Commons Library contains thousands of documents which can be referenced by MP's and their aides.
One such document is entitled:
'Nuclear test veterans - compensation'
produced on 31 January 2013 by Patsy Richards, it is contained in the Science and Environment section.
The House of Commons library contains thousands of documents which are used as reference material for MP's when faced with questions that they do not know the answers to.
The Nuclear test veterans - compensation document is reference with the code SNSC-05145. The document contains references to the court cases in 2010,2011 and 2012.
On the first page, the following statement is provided:
The document is 13 pages long, concentrating on the legal action and explains the MoD position, the Nuclear test veterans position and compensation paid out by other countries.
The legal action is explained:
Mr Justice Foskett discussed the avenues of settlement, but the MoD did not negotiate any settlement and decided to appeal the case.
"The MoD's policy on compensation, which is for 'disablement casually linked to service' was outlined in July 2005. It is also war pension policy that entitlement is given to any type of leukaemia, other than chronic lymphatic with onset, within 25 years of a nuclear test"
So if you developed any form of cancer from 1988 you are not entitled!
In July 2011, the government announced that it had placed a contract for an audit of health needs, despite the governments assertion that:
The resultant audit report did not address the rightfulness of compensation specifically, but did include comments from respondents, such as:
In January 2013, John Baron MP suggested a benevolent fund:
We know that the £25 million was reduced to £6 million of which £3 million is being spent on a DNA study which should have been funded by the government, not the funds for the Veterans.
The document then refers MP's to the NRPB studies that have been carried out:
The 2007 Massey Study is then discussed:
And then immediately dismissed:
If this report has been upheld as important research, but does not help to move forward the argument of links to cancers, why is Brunel university spending £3,000,000 performing the same study?
Compensation in other countries is then discussed:
The Government obligations are then discussed. This is the standard response MP's use when writing back to any constituent:
Lies and Deceit to MP's from the MoD
Within the document, the estimation of the dose of radiation received by the veterans is discussed:
This document tells MP's that personal radiation exposure monitoring was not in use at the time, yet the legal cases produced dosimeter readings and multiple unclassified documents (which have now been removed from the national archives) show the readings.
Eric Denson's widow, Shirley has in her possession, the readings from the dosimeter attached to her husband. The Operation Grapple safety procedures quote that dosimeters are to be used in forward areas.
This is just another lie which has been documented by the House of Commons to cover up the exposure of the veterans.
It is 2019, in a political landscape which is in turmoil, it is now time to admit the fact that these veterans were exposed, formally recognise them and as other countries have done, compensate them.
The MoD know the truth, the civil servants know the truth, the AWRE have the documents to prove that the exposure occurred. We have spent millions fighting the Veterans. One question is WHY?
So next time you write to your MP, please quote SNSC-05145 and this blog and inform them of the inaccuracies of the report.
The full report from the House of Commons library can be viewed here.