Britain drags out nuclear veterans compensation case, hoping they’ll all die off

Britain urged to settle nuclear payout for veterans, THE AUSTRALIAN , July 04, 2011 THE British government was under pressure last night to settle a multimillion-pound fight with more than 1000 veterans of nuclear tests in Australia and the Pacific or risk wasting even more money on a “morally unjustifiable” legal battle that could drag on for years.

Supporters of the pensioners, who participated in Britain’s atomic bomb trials in the Pacific in the 1950s, said that it was time for the Ministry of Defence to follow the world’s four other main nuclear powers and pay compensation.

A group of veterans who are dying of cancer and other conditions at a rate of about three a month will this month go to the Supreme Court to challenge an attempt by the MoD to have their landmark case thrown out.

Several more former servicemen are being forced to tackle the department at a pensions tribunal next week, where the same government lawyers are trying to block access to a payment scheme reserved for veterans who became ill in the line of duty……..The MoD, however, maintains that there is no evidence that any sickness affecting the veterans was linked to their participation in the atomic experiments, on the Australian mainland, Montebello Islands and Christmas Island. …..Britain’s nuclear veterans became aware in the 1980s of the possibility that their presence at the atomic trials had affected their health.

A seemingly disproportionate number of the 26,000 servicemen, also from Australia, Fiji and New Zealand, sent to the sites had died prematurely of a range of illnesses including cancer and heart disease. Complaints of skin disease and infertility were common, while many offspring were sickly…….

Mr Sampson now represents 1011 veterans or their surviving family members.
“Every step of the way there has been procedural argument and difficulty,” he said. “The government is playing here with people’s lives. We are not talking about hundreds of millions of pounds. We are talking about a little compensation for a few elderly and sick people and an apology.”

The test case of 10 veterans brought against the MoD had a setback last year when the Court of Appeal ruled that all but one member of the group was time-barred from bringing a claim.

Determined to pursue every avenue, the nine losing veterans will ask the Supreme Court on July 28 for permission to appeal against the judgment. If they are successful, the appeal will probably be heard within a year.

In any event, Mr Sampson is preparing to push forward with the one successful test claim and those of the other 1001 veterans still outstanding…..http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/britain-urged-to-settle-nuclear-payout-for-veterans/story-e6frg6so-1226086973472

July 4, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK

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