MoD accused of 'delaying tactics' over hidden Nuked Blood records
Evidence of human radiation experiments by the British government is being withheld from campaigners, despite orders from ministers that it should be released.
The Mirror's Freedom of Information requests to publish details about the medical monitoring of troops during nuclear weapons tests have been rejected, ignored, and refused.
Even MPs in Parliament have been denied answers, despite a criminal complaint and pending £5bn lawsuit. Veterans believe it is a "delaying tactic" by officials to deny accountability for as long as possible.
Alan Owen of campaign group LABRATS said: "Veterans have always known the game plan is delay, deny, until they die. We have proved they hold evidence of these experiments, we have forced them to publish some of it, and even when the minister has instructed them to publish the rest they are fighting a rearguard action to keep a lid on it for as long as possible.
"There is no good reason for it and we are asking the Defence Secretary to intervene."
* You can support the veterans' legal fight HERE
More than 28,000 records relating to the risks of radiation injury are known to be hidden on a database, codenamed Merlin, at the Atomic Weapons Establishment. It is locked as a state secret, on the grounds of national security.
More than 150 of files were published last year after Parliamentary pressure. They contained thousands of pages of evidence about blood testing of British and Commonwealth troops before, during and after they were exposed to radiation at Cold War bomb tests.
The Mirror requested a complete list of all the document titles last December, but the AWE refused to comply on the grounds that "the AWE does not hold a record list of the document titles and dates". Yet all computer databases include an internal structure with a list of file names.
The Mirror requested an internal review which is supposed to be completed within 40 working days. The request was ignored for two months, and in May the AWE said: "An investigation is being carried out, but the response is taking longer than anticipated."
Six weeks later, campaigning Tory MP Sir John Hayes has asked Veterans Minister Al Carns to produce the list and place it in the Library of Parliament. Mr Carns said: "Officials are working at pace to formally transfer the records on the Merlin database to the National Archives, while ensuring that sensitive information is protected... Once transferred, the records will be listed and accessible on TNA's website."
There is no deadline for Merlin to be published, and it is expected to take months to check every document and redact personal data. After they are released, archivists will have to catalogue and tag an estimated 750,000 pages of information before they can be made available online.
Only 10% of the veterans, who have an average age of 87, still survive. The MoD was contacted for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
4 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'Heartrending tales of the soldiers who fell victim to the British military's silent killer: 'Asbestos was everywhere years ago... but many old soldiers just shut their gob, got on with it and quietly faded away'
When Lt Col Crawford Harvey's wife Jacqueline died at the age of 77 from mesothelioma – a terminal cancer caused by asbestos – he remembered all the faded military quarters they had shared during his 39 years of service. Could she have been exposed to the deadly fibres in one of those? 'When people ask me what she was like, I sum her up by describing what she loved – family, fun, flowers, sewing, dogs and friends,' he says. 'She was wonderful.' Lt Col Harvey, 77, didn't think life could get any worse after losing Jacqueline in 2022 after 50 years of marriage. He'd never previously heard of mesothelioma, which kills most of those diagnosed within a year. She had lasted about a year and a half. But then, six months ago, he was diagnosed with it, too. 'We're all going to die of something,' he says. 'But to have two people together for 50 years and then, within the span of four years, both are diagnosed with the same relatively rare cancer caused by asbestos? You'd have to say that's spooky.' You would indeed – except that, as the Daily Mail reveals today, the Harveys' tale is only the tip of the iceberg. The Ministry of Defence paid out £112.5million in compensation to 803 victims of mesothelioma between 2016 and 2025. To put that into perspective, British forces were in action in Afghanistan for 20 years, from 2001 to 2021. During that time, there were 405 deaths due to hostile enemy action. During the same period, taking an average of 89 claims a year, 1,780 Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force veterans would have died from mesothelioma. On top of that, each year a similar number die from asbestosis – a chronic disease where the lungs harden – and other lung cancers. That's at least 3,560 asbestos-related deaths in that same 20-year period. The mesothelioma victims included Bernice Scullion, an RAF air traffic control assistant, who died in 2020 aged just 48. In a statement to her solicitors Irwin Mitchell, Bernice had described working in old, crumbling military installations where she suspected asbestos was present. Her husband Kevin, 54, was also in the RAF, until 2014. They had trained together in 1994 at RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire, and worked and lived at other locations that had raised red flags in terms of asbestos. They had three children. 'There are so many of these unmodernised post-war structures that, in my opinion, aren't fit to live or work in,' says Kevin. 'Most have asbestos in them. But military people have such a can-do attitude that some will ignore the risk and get on with it.' Then there was Lt Commander Jeffrey Picken, 69. During 37 years as a marine engineer, he served on five ships and five submarines, all while being exposed to asbestos that had been installed in the vessels for its fire-retardant properties. He died from mesothelioma on New Year's Day in 2018. 'You could say the asbestos was there to protect him and his crewmates,' says his widow Veronica, 77. 'But it killed him, and probably some of them, too.' If the failure to protect the servicemen and women who protect us is a national disgrace, then so, too, is the way we treat them when they develop the disease. Because, when it comes to levels of compensation and medical help, our veterans fare poorly in comparison with civilian mesothelioma victims. Until 2016, personnel who had been exposed to asbestos before 1987 weren't allowed to seek compensation or redress because of the doctrine of Crown Immunity, which protects the Armed Forces from legal action. This was significant because the period between being exposed to asbestos and developing symptoms can range from 20 to 60 years. The Government's Mesothelioma Act changed that, yet still left veterans at a disadvantage – their maximum claim is £140,000, whereas civilians can average around £250,000. Their families cannot make any claims after they die under MoD rules – while civilians' families suing former employers in public courts can. The charity Mesothelioma UK describes these inequalities as 'disgraceful'. The Daily Mail's Asbestos: Britain's Hidden Killer campaign has highlighted that, in the UK, more than 5,000 people a year die from diseases related to these toxic fibres, making it our biggest workplace killer. We are calling on the Government to introduce a phased removal of asbestos from all public buildings – starting with schools and hospitals – and to introduce a national database to register where exactly it is. Today we argue that this should include military homes, barracks, workplaces and equipment. Our forces personnel have our backs. We should have theirs. The Daily Mail's Asbestos: Britain's Hidden Killer campaign has highlighted that, in the UK, more than 5,000 people a year die from diseases related to these toxic fibres, making it our biggest workplace killer We include 'equipment' deliberately. In 2023, the Ministry of Defence admitted that 2,699 pieces of military hardware contained asbestos. These included all Vanguard class nuclear-armed and Astute-class nuclear-powered submarines; hundreds of Challenger tanks; more than a thousand Warrior and Bulldog armoured vehicles; Chinook, Gazelle and Puma helicopters; Daring-class Type 45 destroyers; Type 23 frigates; Stormer and Harpoon missiles... the list goes on. Lt Col Harvey is proud to have served his country for almost four decades in the Royal Corps of Transport, later to become the Royal Logistic Corps. But he says a number of the buildings or barracks where he and Jacqueline, a teacher, stayed – including in the UK, Northern Ireland and Africa – were from an era where asbestos was commonplace. 'By the time I left, in 2005, the Army was much stricter and more aware of the dangers of asbestos,' he says. 'But in the 1960s and 70s, there was less understanding. 'Once I got over 70, I began to hear of a lot of my peer group dying of cancers, and I suspected much of this was down to asbestos. It was everywhere years ago. But many old soldiers just shut their gob, get on with it and quietly fade away.' When I tell him about the numbers of veterans' deaths from asbestos each year, he says: 'That does not surprise me at all.' Assistant air traffic controller Bernice Scullion was fairly certain she had been exposed at a number of locations. At RAF Shawbury in Shropshire, where considerable refurbishment was under way, she recalled in a statement before she died: 'There were a lot of pre-Second World War buildings on site, and notices around the site warning about the presence of asbestos.' At RAF Northolt, west London, Bernice remembered filthy, dusty repairs being carried out to the Operations Centre, where asbestos was later found. And at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire she worked in dirty basements with maps that she had to shake clean of dust every day. She later found out that large amounts of asbestos were found in the building where she worked. In 2014 Bernice, from Northern Ireland, began to experience abdominal pains. She was told she had mesothelioma, but then the diagnosis was withdrawn – only to be confirmed later. Possibly because of her age or because she was on clinical trials of new drugs, she lasted three years after her diagnosis in 2017. That is more than most but, by any standards, 48 is young to die from this disease. 'She was a proper Irishwoman,' says husband Kevin. 'Loved her kids. Loved family life. Loved her parents and her friends. I loved her very much.' Now a private contractor on an RAF base, he thinks some things have improved – if asbestos were found, a specialist would be brought in to clear it, for example – but he adds: 'I could probably walk into the crew room and ask, 'Does anybody know what mesothelioma is?' I don't think any of them would.' The poor state of military accommodation is often cited as a factor in asbestos exposure. As of March 2023, 47,800 properties were designated for service occupation. A Parliamentary Defence Committee report into the state of this accommodation in December concluded: 'A third of Single Living Accommodation and two-thirds of Service Families Accommodation are in such poor condition that they are essentially no longer fit for purpose.' In 2023 in response to a Freedom of Information request put by the Lib Dems, the MoD admitted that 72 per cent of service accommodation contained 'low risk' asbestos. However, among clinicians and the courts, it has long been accepted that there is no such thing as a safe level of exposure to the material. 'We know and understand that defence jobs have a very high risk of injury or death attached to them,' says Professor Kevin Bampton, chief executive of the British Occupational Hygiene Society, which campaigns for workplace safety. 'However, those working in the service of their country should be able to expect that their housing, work accommodation and equipment do not pose more of a likely cause of death than hostile combatants.' If equipment and accommodation weren't enough for service personnel to worry about, questions have been raised over the levels of care the MoD extends to them while on exercises abroad. A case brought by 260 mostly former Royal Marines alleges that they were knowingly exposed to asbestos in an area called Skrunda-1 in Latvia in 2018 and 2019. The group, led by former Marine Edward Hill, were concerned about the location in which they were billeted – a crumbling Soviet-era control centre – but were not allowed to relocate. Edward took soil samples which were found to contain high levels of chrysotile – or white – asbestos. The group are seeking compensation. The MoD said it could not comment on live cases. 'Health and Safety legislation does not extend beyond the UK when armed forces are training overseas,' says Edward. 'But the law needs to change. Those in command must be held criminally accountable when they recklessly expose servicemen and women to hazardous substances.' The final words on such terrible – and completely avoidable – loss of life should go to Veronica Picken, widow of Lt Cdr Picken who served proudly on so many Royal Navy ships and submarines before his death in 2017. 'We met in 1966 and were married in 1967,' she says. 'Before he died, we managed to celebrate our golden wedding anniversary. 'Jeff got his first symptoms – pain in the ribs – in 2016. When they said it was mesothelioma, which I'd never heard of, and they told us the prognosis, I fell apart. 'They tried a couple of drugs on him, but he died in pain. He lasted just over a year. 'I'd like to see the MoD do something about the asbestos our servicemen and women are being exposed to all the time. But I'd also like to see something else – more compassion and more understanding for the families affected by this. 'After almost 40 years of service, you might expect a letter, or a card, or a bunch of flowers from the Navy when your husband dies. But I received nothing. Perhaps that, as much as anything, shows how much the Armed Forces care for the people whose lives they're putting at risk.'
Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Asbestos kills more troops than the Taliban: National disgrace revealed by Mail as toxic MoD homes and equipment caused NINE TIMES more deaths than 20-year Afghan campaign
Asbestos killed nine times more military veterans than there were British victims of the Taliban during the Afghan campaign, government records reveal. Exposure to the deadly material in poor military accommodation, ships, submarines, helicopters and even tanks is causing an average of 89 cases a year of mesothelioma – a fatal cancer caused by asbestos. Former service personnel could be up to ten times more likely to develop an asbestos-related disease than the general public, says the British Occupational Hygiene Society, which campaigns for workplace safety. A compensation row has also broken out, with affected veterans offered significantly less than civilians. Over the past nine years, since a military mesothelioma compensation scheme was introduced, Ministry of Defence figures show there have been 803 payouts totalling £112.5million. All of the claimants were terminally ill. A similar number died from asbestosis and other asbestos-related lung cancers, annual Health and Safety Executive figures suggest. During the 20 years British service personnel were deployed to Afghanistan – from 2001 to 2021 – that equates to 3,560 asbestos-related deaths among veterans, which is thought to be a conservative estimate. In comparison, 405 serving men and women lost their lives due to the hostile actions of the Taliban, out of a total of 457 UK casualties in Afghanistan. Liz Darlison, chief executive of the charity Mesothelioma UK, said: 'We should hang our heads in shame – exposing our boys and girls to asbestos is killing them way faster than the Taliban ever could.' Asbestos-related disease is Britain's biggest industrial killer, taking more than 5,000 lives a year. Just over half of those are due to mesothelioma, an incurable cancer affecting the lungs and stomach membrane. Symptoms can appear anything from 20 to 60 years after exposure to asbestos fibres. It is always fatal, and once victims are diagnosed, most die in a year. The Daily Mail's Asbestos: Britain's Hidden Killer campaign has been calling for Government action and demanding a phased removal of the material from public buildings, plus the establishment of a register to record where the material is and its condition. Until 2016, veterans with mesothelioma could not claim compensation from the MoD under the legal doctrine of Crown Immunity. Legislation was passed in 2014 to waive that immunity and a War Pension Scheme was established. Claims for other diseases such as asbestosis can sometimes be made to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme depending on strict circumstances. Ms Darlison said: 'Our national network of mesothelioma nurses see a disproportionate number of military veterans. It isn't something that's talked about – but it should be. It's a national disgrace. Even more of a disgrace is how they are treated by the military once their disease is diagnosed.' The Daily Mail's 'Asbestos: Britain's Hidden Killer' campaign has been calling for Government action and demanding a phased removal of the material from public buildings, plus the establishment of a register to record where the material is and its condition Research for Mesothelioma UK by Sheffield University found serious inequalities in how military veterans are treated compared with civilians. Under the War Pension Scheme, those diagnosed can take either a weekly or monthly pension or a one-off payment of £140,000. Most take the payment, knowing they have only a year to live. That has not been increased for nine years. Personal injury lawyers say civilians commonly receive £100,000 more when they make claims against workplaces where they were exposed. Ms Darlison added: 'On top of that, civilian settlements often include provisions that cover for private, often novel or cutting-edge treatments. Military settlements don't include that provision, which is grossly unfair. 'Civilian families can make compensation claims after a loved one has died while, under the War Pension Scheme, families of veterans cannot.' Emma Lewell, Labour MP for South Shields, whose grandfather died from mesothelioma, said: 'It can't be right that those who have served get lesser compensation than civilians. This needs to be looked at urgently.' Former Royal Marine Edward Hill is leading a legal action by 260 ex-Marines against the MoD alleging they were exposed to asbestos during military exercises in Latvia in 2018 and 2019, yet were not allowed to move camp away from it. He said: 'According to my own research, asbestos-related disease kills more veterans than anything after natural causes. 'That veterans aren't treated as well as civilians is a disgrace. The Government harps on quite a lot about the Armed Forces Covenant, which is supposed to guarantee the welfare of those who have served, but in my experience the Covenant isn't worth the paper it's written on.' Professor Kevin Bampton, chief executive of the British Occupational Hygiene Society, said the Government needed an 'end-to-end strategy' for protecting service personnel from the dangers of asbestos in their homes and in equipment. 'You could reasonably expect a cause of premature deaths for service personnel to be combat injury,' he said. 'You don't expect nine times as many people to die from asbestos-related disease, which is preventable and completely unnecessary.' The MoD said compensation payments to veterans affected by mesothelioma cannot be compared with civilian claims as the standard of proof of exposure required are lower. And while this has not increased, if a War Widow(er) Pension is chosen instead, this increases annually with inflation. 'We take the health and safety of our service personnel and defence employees extremely seriously,' it said.
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Home Office gives extra £100m for plans to smash people-smuggling gangs
The cash will also pay for up to 300 more National Crime Agency (NCA) officers and new technology and equipment to step up intelligence-gathering on smuggling gangs. There will be more overtime for immigration compliance and enforcement teams as well as funding for interventions in transit countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Labour is seeking to deter smuggling gangs in a bid to bring down small boat crossings, which have topped 25,000 for the year so far – a record for this point in the year. The 'one in, one out' deal agreed last month means the UK will for the first time be able to send migrants back to France in exchange for asylum seekers with links to Britain. Anyone who advertises small boat crossings or fake passports on social media could be face up to five years in prison under a new offence to be introduced under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Labour had set the foundations for a 'new and much stronger law enforcement approach' over the last year. She said: 'Now this additional funding will strengthen every aspect of our plan and will turbo-charge the ability of our law enforcement agencies to track the gangs and bring them down, working with our partners overseas, and using state-of-the-art technology and equipment. 'Alongside our new agreements with France, this will help us drive forward our plan for change commitments to protect the UK's border security and restore order to our immigration system.' The NCA has 91 ongoing investigations into people-smuggling networks affecting the UK, the agency's director general of operations Rob Jones said. The Conservatives criticised the funding announcement as a 'desperate grab for headlines which will make no real difference'. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'Labour has failed and their laughable claim to smash the gangs lies in tatters. They have no serious plan, just excuses, while ruthless criminal gangs flood our borders with illegal immigrants. 'The British public deserves real action, not empty slogans and tinkering at the edges. The Conservative Deportation Bill is the only real solution. Immediate detention, rapid removal and shutting down these illegal networks for good.' Nigel Farage said it was an effort to 'throw taxpayer money at the illegal immigration crisis and hope it will go away'. 'Another £100 million here or there won't move the needle. It won't stop the boats or the gangs,' the Reform UK leader wrote in The Daily Express. A Reform UK spokesperson said: 'Until the Government gets serious about deporting every migrant that crosses the Channel, nothing will change. Only Reform will ensure the boats stop and every illegal that enters the country is sent home.'
