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UK’s Ministry of Defence just waiting for radiation afflicted nuclear veterans to die

Other children of nuclear veterans have suffered chronic musculoskeletal disorders; deformity of the hands, feet, bladder and genitals; heart malformation; hearing defects; spina bifida, and a host of other illnesses. Many have decided not to have children, for fear of perpetuating genetic abnormalities.

Forgotten victims of Britain’s nuclear tests on Christmas Island
No compensation for British servicemen exposed to nuclear explosions around Australia and the Pacific in the 1950s and ’60sTelegraph UK  By Jake Wallis Simons  02 Feb 2014When the bomb went off, Private John Hall had been given no protective clothing. Instead, he and his fellow RAF servicemen had been ordered to turn away from the mushroom cloud and put their hands in front of their faces.

He later said that as he did so, his hands “lit up like an X-ray”, and he saw his bones outlined through the flesh.

The year was 1958, and the Cold War was at its height. Mr Hall, a 19-year-old RAF groundcrewsman, was stationed on Christmas Island, off the north-eastern coast of Australia, to assist with British nuclear tests. His job was to decontaminate the bombers after they flew through the mushroom clouds to collect samples for analysis……..

Mr Hall had no idea that he and many of his fellow servicemen would later suffer ill health and premature death. His own would come at the age of 53, after a long struggle against hairy cell leukaemia, a rare form of cancer that affects just 200 people per year in Britain.

He would not have suspected that his children, like those of hundreds of nuclear veterans, would be born with congenital deformities and unidentified illnesses.

Scientists believe that exposure to radiation can cause genetic damage, resulting in the development of new hereditary disorders; Mr Hall’s eldest son Colin, now 50, has deformed hands, and his other son Ian, 44, was “born without calf muscles”.

Other children of nuclear veterans have suffered chronic musculoskeletal disorders; deformity of the hands, feet, bladder and genitals; heart malformation; hearing defects; spina bifida, and a host of other illnesses. Many have decided not to have children, for fear of perpetuating genetic abnormalities.

It has also been reported that there has been a disproportionate number of stillbirths and fatal deformities among descendants of nuclear veterans. One recently gave birth to a baby with its head attached to one shoulder; it survived for less than two days.

A study undertaken by Sue Rabbitt Roff, a social scientist at the University of Dundee, in 1999, found that of 2,261 children born to veterans, 39 per cent were born with serious medical conditions. By contrast, the national incidence figure in Britain is around 2.5 per cent. In 1958, Mr Hall could not have known about any of this.

And he would never have dreamt that the British government − unlike those of other Western countries − would consistently refuse to give the 3,000 nuclear veterans and their families any compensation, or even any special recognition.

Indeed, the MoD has spent more than £4 million blocking legal claims brought by hundreds of nuclear veterans and their families.

A dedicated charity, the British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association (BNTVA), has been campaigning on the issue for decades. Last week a letter from David Cameron, the Prime Minister, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, made clear that the Government’s position had not changed……..

It would seem that the growing body of evidence, suggesting that radiation exposure can affect the children of veterans, has done little to change the Prime Minister’s mind.

The letter was addressed to John Baron MP, the patron of the BNTVA.

“I think it is utterly shameful how we have treated our veterans in this fashion,” he said. “I cannot understand why a British prime minister cannot … acknowledge the great service of an ever dwindling band of men.”…..

The BNTVA is calling for the Government to provide a £25 million benevolent fund, to pay for medical treatment for nuclear veterans and their families.

“We are not asking for compensation, which would involve the Government admitting liability,” says Mr Baron. “We are simply asking for an ex gratia pot of money which would provide medical assistance to those with the severest needs.”……..

Nobody from the MoD was available to comment. However, it is understood that its position is based on a 2012 decision by the Supreme Court that nuclear veterans should not be allowed to seek compensation.

More than 1,000 ex-servicemen had battled for two years through the High Court and the Court of Appeal to bring damages claims against the MoD. But the court ruled that it had been too long since the health problems emerged to make their claims viable.

“The approach that this Government takes is to waste resources on fighting veterans rather than cooperating with them,” said Neil Sampson, the lawyer acting on behalf of the veterans. “There are some things in life that are wrong. The approach of the Government to this issue is one of those things.”

Over the past two years coroners have begun to be more forthright in establishing radiation exposure as a cause of death in former servicemenhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/defence/10611985/Forgotten-victims-of-Britains-nuclear-tests-on-Christmas-Island.html

February 3, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized