Nuke test veterans urge Andy Burnham to give them justice: 'They keep chopping and changing their promises!'
Campaigners for Britain’s nuclear test veterans have issued a call to action for Andy Burnham to be the first Prime Minister to give them justice.
The man tipped to be Britain’s next Prime Minister has been a long-time supporter of LABRATS International, the campaign group who have been pressuring the government on behalf of veterans for decades.
In the 1950s and 60s, thousands of British servicemen were exposed to radiation without protection, as Britain conducted its nuclear bomb tests.
In the decades since, them and their families have suffered the medical consequences, with generations to come expected to live with them too.
At a LABRATS event in 2022, Mr Burnham told veterans: “You are owed the truth, and your families are owed the truth. You are owed justice, reparation and accountability to the extent that is possible.
“The Prime Minister of this country, whoever that is, needs to stand at the dispatch box in the House of Commons and make a national apology to each and every one of you.”
Speaking to GB News, Founder of LABRATS, Alan Owen, said: “We hope that if he comes in, one of the first things he will do is implement Hillsborough Law with a duty of candour, and he will end the scandal.
“Time is not on these guys' side, that's the issue. The average age is now 87 years old, and we need it resolved.”
Captain Terry Hughes was a witness to one of the H-Bomb tests near Christmas Island between 1957-1958, whilst he was serving in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
In the decades since, he’s had to have multiple skin cancers removed and his son is unable to have children.
He told GB News: “His [Andy Burnham’s] chance now is to honour the Hillsborough Law and our veterans.
“I was brought up to respect my elders and trust authority, and I'm now an elder. Did they respect us when they were testing the bombs, on Christmas Island, or Australia? I don't think so.
“I have no respect at all for what politicians have done, because they keep chopping and changing their promises all the time.”
Their pressure on Andy Burnham comes as they await to publication of a Ministry of Defence review into their medical records.
Ministers inside the department have directed teams over the past year to examine what information exists regarding medical testing.
Released documents show that medical testing was done. A letter GB News has seen dated August 1956 says: “Action will be taken to check the radiation doses received.”
Alan Owen said: “The report's written, it's done, and we would hope that Andy, if it's published before summer recess, would then start work immediately on the recommendations.
“We hope that the report will show that the Ministry of Defence have actually lost these medical records, that they cannot find their medical records, and therefore, asking people at a war pension tribunal to prove they were irradiated and to prove they had medical issues, when the MoD can’t find the medical records themselves, will be a nonsense.
“The recommendations we've asked for are for an apology to the nuclear test veterans, compensation for the nuclear test veterans and their families and for the test veterans that have passed away, a memorial in London to nuclear test veterans, research into descendants, and money for education and awareness raising about what these guys did.”
Captain Terry added: “I mean, I had no test done on me at all, which is a mystery to me why I wasn't ever tested.
“Everybody knows what happened to us and what's happening to the descendants, why are they hiding it? I just don't understand it, I'm afraid.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: “We recognise the huge contribution that nuclear test veterans have made to national security. “The records exercise is nearing completion and will look into unresolved questions regarding medical records, providing the government with a better understanding on what information is on record.”
GB News approached Andy Burnham for comment but received no reply.