Openness & Transparency

I have seen thousands of documents relating to the nuclear testing programs across the world. I have seen thousands of incredible pictures and listened to thousands of veterans' testimonies and stories. Yet when I received a copy of a document from the Minister for Veterans and People, Louise Sandhers-Jones, a few weeks ago, I was blown away by its contents.

For years, Doug Hern had told me that the fish contained the key to increased radiation levels; he had caught the fish, and he had witnessed the fish being tested.

This image shows the fish being caught, the location is Christmas Island, during Operation Grapple.

McCue Jury & Partners have been instrumental in the release of this document by the Ministry of Defence. They were made aware of the document in the summer of 2025 and sent an FOI request to the MOD in July 2025, which was then converted into an Environmental Information Request by the MOD. They initially denied that this document existed, only admitting to its existence after repeated requests from McCue.

The document is difficult to read for anyone connected to the Nuclear Community; it is damning in its conclusion and shows that the Clare Report, written in 1993 (SDTN 16/93), which is used for war pension tribunals, litigation and at the European Court of Human Rights, is inaccurate and does not contain the full information.

You can read it for yourself by clicking the link below, but please be warned that it contains information that will trigger a lot of emotions.

EiR2025-038 Final Response.pdf

Download PDF • 2.53MB

What is unusual about this release of information is that the Minister for Veterans and People decided to release it not only to McCue Jury & Partners (who instigated the request), but also to me and to a range of MP's.

The Veteran's Minister's letter came after a meeting with the Office for Veterans' Affairs, in which the letter was mentioned. It arrived at 4:30 the same day, via email, but unfortunately, the report itself was not attached. As it was a Friday, they left us with a letter with no report until Monday, with no regard for the well-being of the community or me.

Finally, after informing the Minister's office that the attachment was missing straight away, it arrived 48 hours later.

This is the letter I received from the Minister for Veterans and People:

I will leave you to your opinions on the response, which I found incredibly dismissive of the subject and incredibly disrespectful to the Nuclear Veterans and their families. Especially as the MOD were made aware of this report in 2014 and instead of acting upon the information from their own scientists, they buried the report and never published it. By keeping it in draft format, it is beyond the scope of Freedom of Information requests.

The Minister for Veterans and People was asked an urgent question by Sir Julian Lewis in Parliament on Tuesday, 17th March 2026. Listen to her response:

A stock, scripted response from the MOD Lawyers and Press office. Again, incredibly disappointing, but to many of you who have campaigned for decades, not surprising.

I wrote to the Minister, the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister asking for urgent action. This document is incredibly important to the community, and the UK Government are again dismissing it.

Despite the document stating that the Clare Report is not complete:

Despite the document stating that there are elevated levels of radiation on Christmas Island:

And that the Clare Report says there were no increased levels and has been relied upon by the ECHR judges:

This new document shows that the Clare report is not reliable evidence, it is incomplete and inaccurate. Yet no action is being taken.

The document also discusses the public interest and information in the public domain:

The AWE told the ECHR in 1997 that 'There was no fallout on Christmas Island'—a complete lie.

The report states:

All of the data used in this uncovered report is available in the declassified Merlin database. We currently have approximately 18,000 records of the 28,000 records to be released.

The report is damning:

The Minister for Veterans & People met with us before an adjournment debate held in Parliament on the 25th March 2026, and we received a letter from the Secretary of State for Defence. They both promised a full investigation into the document and the cover-up in 2014.

Conclusion

In 2014, scientists found inaccurate, incomplete information and reported on it. The MOD buried it; there can be no doubt that this report was not acted upon. It is only due to the release of Merlin that this document has surfaced. Someone at the MOD ordered it to be buried, not to be investigated, despite the huge significance for the Nuclear Test Veterans.

The previous Minister for Veterans and People (Al Carns) told me that the MOD don't do cover-ups. Well, here is the evidence: not only did they cover it up in 2014, but they are also doing it again in 2026.

Since the NRPB study was released in 1988, we have been told that science is the truth, science needs to be relied on, yet when the science tells the MOD that they were wrong and thousands of people were affected by the incorrect science, they don't act upon it; they hide it.

The document may be a draft, never published, but many answers remain. They include:

1. Which officials, ministers, or senior MoD personnel were aware of the data when this report was written in 2014?

2. Was any impact assessment carried out at the time?

3. What work was still being undertaken on the report that justified it remaining in draft

   form, as stated in the explanatory note accompanying its release?

4. When were the current government, its departments, or associated agencies first made

   aware of the report’s existence?

5. When will the Attorney General be writing to the courts that were misled about the

   existence of this data, including war pension tribunals, coroner’s courts, the ECHR, the

   High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court?

6. Will compensation payments now be issued?

7. Can you confirm that the Attorney General is informing the courts that were misled?

8. Will the Secretary of State for Defence be making a statement to the House?

9. Can you confirm whether ministers or officials in this government were unaware of the

   existence of this data before July 2025?

These questions have been sent to the Minister for Veterans and People, and we are awaiting a response. We continue to meet with the Office for Veterans' Affairs each week, and the Missing Medical Records review is imminent. This 2014 report needs a full investigation, and these urgent questions need to be answered.