The Ministry of Defence has been ordered to find the medical records of nuclear veterans that have been hidden for 70 years.
An internal investigation was announced in the wake of a BBC documentary into the Nuked Blood Scandal, and an alleged official cover-up of blood tests taken from troops during Cold War weapons tests.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament yesterday it was “a really important issue” but did not respond to requests to meet the affected families and see their evidence for himself.
Defence Secretary John Healey announced the internal inquiry when quizzed about the film by a Commons select committee on Thursday.
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South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck asked the minister: “How long is the government and the MoD going to hold the line that nothing is being withheld from the veterans, and that their families aren’t suffering from the effects of radiation?”
Mr Healey insisted nothing was being withheld, but records may have been lost.
“What we’re doing is a detailed dig into what may be held, but we’ve not been aware of it,” he said. “If there are documents that the government holds in any part of the system then we will release them as they ask… some of this digging is not straightforward, and some of these records may not exist.”
He praised the Mirror ’s 40-year campaign for the truth but said: “There’s not necessarily an inconsistency when nuclear test veterans know they were medically tested at the time, or soon after, but now decades later those records may not exist or be partial, and that’s what we’re trying to get to the bottom of.”
He said he wanted to avoid a lengthy judge-led inquiry because of the age and health of the veterans.
Survivors have reported the only parts of their medical records missing are pages that relate to their time at the tests, and say the files appear to have been filleted rather than mislaid.
Even if they have been unintentionally lost, it could still lead to massive compensation and an apology for medical negligence, with damages aggravated by the cover-up. There is also potential for a criminal investigation of officials who hid records behind bogus claims of national security.
Human rights lawyer Jason McCue, who is leading the legal fight for the truth, welcomed the investigation but said the MoD had failed to engage with the potential £5bn claim, or the veterans’ offer to mediate with a one-year special tribunal to limit costs to the taxpayer.
“It’s not about government saying they will meet and provide sympathy along with a photo call, they must meet the veterans’ demand for justice,” he said.
“Clearly they are still frightened to engage or meet with the veterans’ legal representatives because they are frightened of the costs involved to make things right.”
Britain’s Nuclear Bomb Scandal: Our Story is available on iPlayer and will be screened in Parliament on Monday.