Ministers face £5bn Nuked Blood bill as they refuse to reveal evidence
Ministers have uncovered government plans to conduct radiation experiments on troops, but refused to give details to Parliament.
It comes days after the Defence Secretary told MPs he was 'deeply uncomfortable' about a super-injunction that prevented him discussing a £7bn data leak about Afghan troops and translators.
Now the Mirror can reveal that his department is again hiding potentially expensive errors behind the cloak of a 'ministerial review' - with final costs estimated at a further £5bn.
Tory grandee Sir John Hayes said: "Given that the ministers will have discovered a great deal in this review, it's important they inform Parliament of it at the earliest opportunity to maintain good faith, and I will be raising this in the House as a matter of urgency."
The inquiry was ordered last year after a BBC documentary showcased our investigation of the Nuked Blood Scandal, a Cold War programme of mass blood and urine testing on servicemen conducted in Australia and the Pacific for more than a decade.
The results are missing from medical files, effectively denying them war pensions, compensation, and the right medical treatment. MoD officials have repeatedly told Parliament and the courts that blood testing never took place.
Veterans Minister Al Carns has been asked several times by MPs of all parties to reveal his findings from the 10-month review of Ministry of Defence archives, but has rejected the calls, saying he is hunting for evidence of an official policy of blood-testing. 'I will update the house when I am in a position to share the findings of the exercise that is looking at concerns raised with me about some nuclear test veterans' medical records,' he told the Commons.
His staff have examined 43,000 files, amounting to more than a million pages. They include a 1957 request from Charles Adams, the scientific director of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment that blood counts should be done on troops even if others 'thought it unnecessary'.
A second AWRE letter examined by his team says blood tests are needed 'from the medico-legal aspect' for all troops and civilians before they leave the UK because 'we wish to exclude people with existing pathological conditions... we wish to be able to demonstrate that this has been done in any case in which a claim for damage is made'.
The review is also thought to have uncovered a 1958 operational order from Bomber Command stating that 'all personnel who go to Christmas Island should have the following blood examinations made and the results recorded in [their file]'.
READ MORE: Video of Labour's broken promises to nuke veterans gets 3 million views as pressure grows
It is not known whether these documents have been personally shown or briefed to the minister, but his officials are known to have examined the files between January and July. The MoD is facing a lawsuit from veterans and widows about non-production of the medical records, estimated to top £5bn.
Alan Owen of campaign group LABRATS said: 'The data leak which has caused so much outrage was blamed on the previous government, but this happened entirely on Labour 's watch.
'They set up the review, they've been briefed on the findings, and they've refused repeated requests from Parliament to reveal what they know. They don't even have the excuse of a super-injunction to hide behind - this is the government's own doing.'
A spokesman for the MoD said: 'The Minister for Veterans and People has commissioned officials to look seriously into unresolved questions regarding medical records as a priority, and this is now underway.
"This work will be comprehensive, and it will enable us to better understand what information the department holds in relation to the medical testing of service personnel who took part in the UK nuclear weapons tests, ensuring that we can be assured that relevant information has been looked at thoroughly.'
The spokesman was unable to confirm whether the minister had personally reviewed the files seen by his team.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
20 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Afghan data leak inquiry to be conducted by Parliament's security watchdog
An inquiry into the Afghan data leak that led to an unprecedented legal gagging order and an £850 million secret relocation scheme is set to be carried out by Parliament's intelligence watchdog. Lord Beamish, chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC), said the cross-party group would launch a probe after considering defence assessment documents related to the case. The peer has previously voiced concern over 'serious constitutional issues' raised by the handling of the breach that saw the details of 18,714 applicants for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme released in 2022. The leak prompted an unprecedented superinjunction amid fears the Taliban could target would-be refugees for reprisals, meaning the ISC, which routinely reviews sensitive material, was not briefed. It also saw the establishment of a secret scheme, the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR), to bring some of those affected to the UK at a projected final cost of about £850 million. In a statement on Monday, Lord Beamish said the committee 'has agreed that, once it has considered the requested material, it will conduct an inquiry into the intelligence community's role and activity in connection with the loss of data relating to Arap applicants in February 2022'. The Ministry of Defence said it had been instructed by Defence Secretary John Healey to give 'its full support' to the committee. The ISC, which is made up of MPs and peers, had asked for the release of defence assessments that formed the basis of the superinjunction, as well as other material relating to the Arap scheme. It hard argued that under the Justice and Security Act 2013, classification of material is not grounds on which information can be withheld from the committee, given its purpose is to scrutinise the work of the UK intelligence community. Thousands of Afghans included on the list of people trying to flee the Taliban are unlikely to receive compensation after their details were accidentally leaked. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Government would 'robustly defend' any legal action or bid for compensation, adding these were 'hypothetical claims'. It has also been reported that the MoD will not proactively offer compensation to those affected. In total, the Government expects 6,900 people to be brought to the UK under the ARR scheme, which was introduced under the previous Tory administration after a defence official leaked the data 'in error' in February 2022. Along with the Afghan nationals, the breach saw details of more than 100 British officials compromised, including special forces and MI6 personnel. An MoD spokesman said: 'The Government strongly welcomes the Intelligence and Security Committee's scrutiny of the Afghan data incident. 'We recognise the urgent need to understand how these significant failures happened and ensure there's proper accountability for the previous government's handling of this matter. 'The Ministry of Defence has been instructed by the Defence Secretary to give its full support to the ISC and all parliamentary committees. If incumbent ministers and officials are asked to account and give evidence, they will. 'We have restored proper parliamentary accountability and scrutiny for the decisions that the department takes and the spending that we commit on behalf of the taxpayer.'
ITV News
20 minutes ago
- ITV News
Recipients of new sanctions targeting smuggling gangs to be announced
People-smuggling gang leaders and corrupt law enforcement officials could have their assets frozen and be banned from the UK as part of new efforts to curb illegal immigration. Companies that sell small boat equipment for Channel crossings will also face the raft of sanctions announced by the Foreign Secretary on Tuesday. This ranges from those involved in supplying and financing small boats, fake passports, and "middlemen" putting cash through the Hawala system, a legal money transfer system, which is also used in payments linked to Channel crossings. The first wave of sanctions comes into force on Wednesday, and recipients will be publicly named, so it will be illegal for UK businesses and banks to deal with them. More than 20 designations are expected to be in the firing line, and could include corrupt public officials and police officers in steps to tackle the multi-billion-dollar industry. Over 23,500 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats so far in 2025. The fresh sanctions aim to target organised crime gangs wherever they are in the world and disrupt their flow of cash, including freezing bank accounts, property and other assets, to hinder their activities. The latest measures to curb people-smuggling come as the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill continues through Parliament. The bill, if passed, will introduce new criminal offences and hand counterterror-style powers to police and enforcement agencies to crack down on people smuggling gangs. Details are also being ironed out on a so-called "one in, one out" pilot scheme, announced by Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month. The scheme will see migrants arriving via small boat to the UK promptly sent back to France, in exchange for a different individual being allowed to come to the UK by a safe and legal route. However, there is no "fixed" target for the number of migrants who will be returned to France if they cross the Channel via small boat, the home secretary has said. Discussing the new sanctions, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "For too long, criminal gangs have been lining their corrupt pockets and preying on the hopes of vulnerable people with impunity as they drive irregular migration to the UK. We will not accept this status quo. "That's why the UK has created the world's first sanctions regime targeted at gangs involved in people smuggling and driving irregular migration, as well as their enablers. "From tomorrow, those involved will face having their assets frozen, being shut off from the UK financial system and banned from travelling to the UK."
BBC News
21 minutes ago
- BBC News
Cardiff GP felt she had to work through cancer scare
A GP has said she kept on working through a cancer scare because otherwise her patients wouldn't have been seen due to staffing issues made worse by Emily Jones isn't alone feeling under pressure, as a colleague at their south Wales surgery worries she'll make a mistake because she's seeing more patients than the recommended daily safe limit due to financial doctors claim these issues are made worse by an "outdated" health funding model which doesn't take into account how sick or poor a surgery's catchment UK government has said it is reviewing the formula while the Welsh Parliament is looking at it as part of its inquiry into the future of GPs. "It puts the pressure on that I shouldn't be getting sick," Dr Jones 37-year-old had nipped away from her practice to get an issue checked out and her doctor found a potentially cancerous lump in her abdomen."My GP said that I should be going straight to the hospital," she recalled."But I couldn't because I was the only doctor here, I couldn't shut the surgery."It was very stressful that afternoon trying to just keep going. I was in pain but there wasn't really any other option."Dr Jones has said there wasn't enough staff to cover her that day because of a funding formula for GP surgeries in Wales and England that some say is no longer fit for more doctors were in the following day, Dr Jones was able to attend the hospital appointment when the lump was found not to be has also felt awful being off to attend emergency hospital appointments and to have major operations because it put a strain on her surgery in Cardiff."I hear quite a lot you don't think about doctors getting sick, but I try to remind my patients that we're all human," added Dr Jones, a GP for eight years. Whitchurch Road Surgery in the Heath area of the city currently has about 80 appointments a day for the approximate 8,000 patients on their list and have an estimated four-week wait for routine appointments. The surgery has said some staff are doing overtime every day to see as many patients as quickly as possible."You have patient after patient coming in and the first five minutes is spent apologising for the fact they can't get an appointment," said Dr Rebecca 44-year-old has said that she could see 30 patients in a morning, which is beyond the safe daily limit of 25 suggested by the British Medical Association (BMA). The BMA has said some GPs are seeing as many as 40 patients in a day due to an increased workload as some surgeries claim they can't afford more doctors. "Every single day you worry you're going to make a mistake," added Dr Towner."There's more risk with seeing patient after patient and less time to think. We're firefighting and it's exhausting."She has admitted the situation can be "demoralising" and doctors she knows have considered quitting multiple times. "I can't imagine doing anything else other than being a GP, but it's hard to see how we can carry on as it is at the moment," added Dr at Whitchurch Road Surgery have put a cap on extra work "when possible" and claim a lack of funding because of the way the NHS pays GP surgeries means they have been unable to pay the same wages as other say that means they're unable to hire new staff which has added to their workload and subsequently increased appointment wait time for patients. The surgery's own practice manager said he continued to work during his treatment for stage three oesophageal cancer in an attempt to lessen the impact on patients."I think things will get worse before they get better," said Gareth Lucocq, 47."We have lots of doctors qualifying in autumn and unfortunately there are no jobs for them because practices can't afford their wages." GPs in Wales and England are mainly paid using a formula introduced in 2004, based on factors like how old and ill their patients are likely to be. Campaigners have said data the Carr-Hill Formula uses is more than 25 years old and GP practices in towns and cities tend to lose complain the formula is not based on current data so when the NHS allocates cash, it doesn't take into account whether the GP surgery serves a particularly sick or deprived Wales research shows that if Whitchurch Road Surgery was paid per patient, rather than using the Carr-Hill formula, it would receive an extra quarter of a million pounds a on this measurement, the biggest shortfall faced by any GP surgery in Wales would be just under £445,000."There is systematically worse access to general practice in poorer parts of the country," said Dr Becks Fisher of the Nuffield Trust, who did a study on GP funding formula in England."People who live in poorer parts of the country consistently have lower satisfaction with GP services and report more difficulty in accessing them."GP practices in the Cardiff and Vale health board are the worst affected by the formula in Wales and almost half of Welsh surgeries claim they're allocated less cash than they say they need."If you're hundreds of thousands of pounds worse off, it doesn't matter how hard you work," said Dr Matthew Jones, who works at another surgery in Heath. "The formula just doesn't work. It doesn't accurately represent what your GP workload is and the figures and data they're using are from 1998 to 2001."The General Practitioners Committee, the body that represents UK GPs, believes there is a need to review the formula in Wales."General practice is facing a crisis in Wales," said Dr Gareth Oelmann, the BMA's Welsh committee Royal College of General Practitioners has welcomed the "long overdue" UK government review into how funds are dished out to GP surgeries."A patient's postcode and where they live should not determine the level of NHS care they receive," it said in a statement."It can't be right that people in deprived communities – who often have more complex health needs and would likely benefit from health interventions most - are less likely to receive it, because their GPs' time is spread even more thinly."In Wales, the Senedd's Health and Social Care Committee is holding an inquiry into the future of GPs including its funding model and current financial pressures."Various elements of the GP contract, including funding formulas, will be considered as part of annual contract negotiations between Welsh government, NHS Wales and the General Practitioner's Committee," the Welsh government said in a statement.
