Latest news with #NukedBloodScandal
Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer accused of ignoring veterans for a year as Nuked Blood Scandal grows
Keir Starmer has been warned the Nuked Blood Scandal is growing out of control as veterans say he has ignored requests to meet them for a year The Prime Minister has been accused of ignoring the growing Nuked Blood Scandal since coming to office, with more than 50 veterans dying without justice on his watch. More than 2,000 survivors want the truth about a government programme of blood and urine testing of troops while they were being ordered to take part in nuclear weapons trials during the Cold War. The medical data that was gathered is now missing from their personnel files, denying them war pensions, compensation, and the truth about whether radiation left their families with a poisonous genetic legacy of cancers, blood disorders, miscarriages and birth defects. Keir Starmer was invited to meet campaigners and discuss their calls for a public inquiry within days of winning the general election last year, but his correspondence team did not even acknowledge the request. Since then his government has refused to tell Parliament about evidence it has now found of orders for the long-denied blood tests, serving government lawyers have been identified as having misled courts and judges, and his own officials have admitted scientists may have been conducting the experiments without medical supervision. Alan Owen, founder of nuclear veteran campaign group LABRATS, said: "This is the longest and worst scandal in British history. Long-denied allegations of using our own troops in radiation experiments are being proven with a growing pile of evidence, an expensive lawsuit, and a police complaint. But it seems we're not even on his to-do list." He added: "Either the PM is ignoring a problem that really needs his attention before it gets any worse, or someone is keeping this off his desk on purpose. Either way, we hear about another veteran dying every single week. These men have an average age of 87, a host of chronic health conditions, and they deserve better than this." The PM was tackled on the scandal by backbench Labour MP Emma Lewell in his first appearance at the Despatch Box after the election in July last year, and urged to hold an inquiry. Instead he promised her a meeting with Veterans Minister Al Carns. He has twice met with campaigners, but while he has ordered officials to review 1m pages of archive documents, he has refused all requests to say what he has found. The minister has ordered the release of a further 10,000 classified documents, thought to include at least 200,000 pages, but there is no date for their publication. Veteran Brian Unthank, 87, who has had 96 skin cancers, two bouts of bladder cancer and is now dealing with an "unusual" prostate cancer, said: "All I want is for Starmer to stand up, admit they got it wrong, apologise and find a way to sort it. But every promise we've ever had has been broken." Starmer was in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet in 2019 when he signed off on a manifesto pledge to pay survivors £50,000 compensation, but all mention of nuclear veterans was removed from Labour's latest version. Meanwhile nearly 4.8m people have seen a viral video about Labour's broken promises, with footage of deputy leader Angela Rayner, Defence Secretary John Healey and Armed Forces minister Luke Pollard all demanding, while in Opposition, that the Tories order payouts. The government has expanded the criteria for the nuclear test medal after the Mirror highlighted the story of Operation Bagpipes hero Pete Peters, but so far he is the only veteran to have benefited. The minister has been asked to expand it for hundreds more crews who were ordered to take part in sampling missions through the nuclear tests of other nations, but this week he refused to say when they would receive it. Colin Duncan, who was a RAF sergeant in 543 Squadron when planes were sent through the clouds of French hyrdogen bombs in 1974, is fighting for the medal to be granted to comrades who suffer the same horrific pattern of illnesses. "We thought the minister was considering new criteria, but I'm not surprised to hear he's doing nothing of the sort," said Colin, 86, of Chipping Sodbury. "There must be a couple of thousand veterans the MoD is ignoring." If more veterans qualify for the medal, they may also need to be included in long-term health studies which the government relies on to refuse war pensions, which could alter their findings. No10 was contacted for comment.
Daily Mirror
20-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Ministers face £5bn Nuked Blood bill as they refuse to reveal evidence
Ministers have refused to tell Parliament what evidence they have found about human radiation experiments on troops. The Nuked Blood Scandal threatens to land the MoD with a potential £5bn lawsuit 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.
Daily Mirror
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Victims Commissioner demands police investigate Nuked Blood cover-up
Baroness Helen Newlove has urged police to investigate the Nuked Blood Scandal and allegations of a criminal cover-up of radiation experiments on British troops Police and the Ministry of Defence have been urged by the Victims Commissioner to investigate allegations of a criminal cover-up at the heart of the British state. It comes in a week when the government is already under pressure over its failures to make proper amends for institutional injustices, including the Post Office and infected blood scandals, which lasted decades. Now Baroness Newlove - widow of murdered headteacher Garry Newlove - has intervened in the Nuked Blood Scandal, in which thousands of UK and Commonwealth troops were biologically monitored, without consent, during nuclear weapon trials in the Cold War. Many have found the results of blood and urine tests, and chest x-rays, have subsequently been removed from their medical files, along with doctors' notes taken during service at the trials. The MoD is facing a £5bn lawsuit forcing it to produce the records or pay compensation. A 500-page dossier of evidence of alleged criminal misconduct in public office from the Mirror's 3-year investigation was handed to the Met Police in May, but although much of it pointed to the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, it declined to investigate. It passed the complaint to Thames Valley Police, as much of the evidence of blood testing was found hidden behind national security at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Berkshire. Campaigners wrote to Baroness Newlove concerned the allegations were "not being properly or speedily investigated by the appropriate police force". * You can support the veterans' fight for justice HERE Alan Owen of campaign group LABRATS said: "The MoD is next door to Scotland Yad, and therefore these offences span both jurisdictions. It is our view that after reviewing the evidence, TVP will simply refer it back to the Met, and there will be a game of official ping-pong while these veterans of these tests, who have an average age of 87 and more than 9 chronic health conditions each, die at the rate of one a week." He added: "We appreciate it's a very unwelcome complaint with many political ramifications, but it is a vital one if our country is to remain a place of justice and freedom, if our veterans are to get the correct medical diagnosis and treatment, and our future troops can have full faith in the duty of care displayed by those in charge of the armed forces." Baroness Newlove's role includes championing the victims and witnesses of crime, and campaigners asked her, as well as Policing Minister Diana Johnson and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, to ensure the case was being properly dealt with. In a letter to veterans, she said the allegations were "very serious issues" that had "impacted on the health and wellbeing of victims and their families". READ MORE: Nuked Blood: Post Office victims and Hillsborough survivors join veterans to urge Met investigation Baroness Newlove added: "I have written to the Secretary of State for Defence, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police. "In my letters to them I have highlighted the concerns you have raised and have asked that the matter be investigated as quickly as possible in order for justice to be served.... I hope that you and those affected are able to find swift resolution." This afternoon the infected blood public inquiry is to publish a damning report into "devastating" compensation delays to victims of AIDS and hepatitis-infected transfusions in the worst scandal in NHS history. Yesterday, a similar report in to handling of the Post Office scandal found that at least 13 suicides could be attributed to wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters and postmistresses, based on faulty computer systems. This week, Parliament was told that a six-month MoD internal review of records about the monitoring programme - which has already lasted 10 months - has finally started looking at individual records of military personnel to establish what is missing. Veterans Minister Al Carns said: "Our focus has been to start reviewing all surviving policy records and instructions related to blood and urine testing, as well as policies relating to the retention of these records. We have begun with the policy files to ensure there is an understanding of the policy procedures and instructions for medical tests that were given at the time. "Doing this first helps us to understand whether policies and instructions were followed. The MoD has begun the process of looking at nuclear test veterans' service and medical records. I will update the house when I am in a position to share the findings of this exercise." He has also confirmed that the review is not independent, with the historic branches of the RAF, Royal Navy, and Army, and the AWE, each reviewing their own records to see if they hold what they have previously denied holding. There is no date by which veterans have been told they can expect an answer.
Daily Mirror
04-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
MoD refuses to give Nuked Blood info as minister says families were harmed
Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard has said veteran families "suffered the consequences" of the Nuked Blood Scandal, but survivors are still waiting for full disclosure Ministers have refused to reveal the contents of 43,000 files that have been reviewed over allegations of human radiation experiments. It comes after Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard told BBC Newsnight that both veterans AND their children were harmed by Britain's nuclear weapon testing programme, in what appears to be a massive government u-turn. It follows decades of denial that few veterans were exposed to radiation, and there was no evidence for a legacy of genetic or psychological harm for their families. Alan Owen, founder of campaign group LABRATS, said: "The government appears to be in a complete mess of its own making. They've admitted troops were harmed by radiation, that there was biological monitoring it had previously denied, and no medical supervision in what amounts to human experiments. "Yet ministers find it impossible to make a public statement about any of it. Meanwhile, our veterans have an average age of 87 and die at the rate of one a week. Delaying justice to them, even at this stage of their lives, appears to be an intentional policy." Parliament was told this week that thousands of files, amounting to an estimated 1.1m pages, had been reviewed as part of an internal inquiry into the Nuked Blood Scandal. But despite questions, no-one outside the MoD has been told what was found. A three-year investigation has uncovered an official cover-up about blood and urine tests used to monitor the health of troops during Cold War bomb trials, and which are now missing from the men's medical files. Successive governments have always denied they took place, telling judges and Parliament no medical monitoring was needed because all the troops were at a safe distance. After veterans launched a £5bn legal action, Labour announced a review which was supposed to have finished last Spring. Veterans Minister Al Carns has confirmed his team has reviewed 43,000 historic files in an effort to uncover the official policy, but will not be drawn on what has been found until after it is completed. "Given the vast scale and complexity of the work involved, we are not in a position to confirm when this exercise will conclude," he said. Dozens of orders for blood tests, and the names of hundreds of troops ordered to have it done, have already been found hidden behind national security at the Atomic Weapons Establishment. Campaigners have asked Mr Carns to compare those to individual medical records, as the quickest means of finding out whether the blood tests were included or not, and deliver justice to the ageing veterans. Many former troops who have requested their medical file have found evidence of blood tests, urine tests and chest x-rays without clinical reason, and with the results removed, with an impact on future diagnosis, medical treatment, and war pensions. Instead, Mr Carns says he has ordered his team to look into "whether policies and instructions were followed", and they have yet to open a single service record to see if it was subsequently sanitised. After the scandal featured in a special edition of Newsnight, Mr Pollard told the programme that "we know the consequences for many of those people participating in the tests are carried, not just by individuals, but by their family members. That's why we want ot work out what we can declassify and share, and get to the heart of trying to get justice for these individuals." He predicted there may be an announcement soon, and added: "I want to see justice for those folks that were exposed to nuclear testing all those decades ago, because we're running out of time for many of them still being around." It suggests that the review has prompted a change of heart within the MoD, which has always denied the testing programme had a wider impact on veterans and their families. It also appears to be a tacit admission some information that should have been public was wrongly kept hidden among state secrets, something which Thames Valley Police and the Met have been asked to investigate. Around 10,000 files, containing an estimated 200,000 pages - less than a quarter of what the MoD has reviewed - are expected to be released to the National Archives later this summer as a result of the campaign. Veterans Minister Al Carns said: "I am deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. Their bravery and determination has meant that they've had an immense contribution to national security... we are prioriting open up records, as well as thoroughly looking at the information which may exist around blood and urine records." Asked about Mr Pollard's comments, a MoD spokesman insisted there is no evidence that children of nuclear veterans suffer increased health problems. A peer-reviewed study by the University of Liverpool in 2007 found veterans' children reported 10 times the usual rate of birth defects.
Daily Mirror
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Nuked Blood: Met Police 'cop-out' on radiation crimes against troops
The Met has batted away pleas to investigate the Ministry of Defence over allegations of a criminal cover-up of human radiation experiments Scotland Yard has been accused of "refusing to investigate" crimes by the state against British troops. Officers of the Metropolitan Police spent 50 days deliberating over 500 pages of evidence about an alleged official cover-up of human radiation experiments. Despite documents which appear to show people still at work in Westminster misled ministers, courts, and Parliament as recently as 2024, the Met decided it was "non-recent" and not in their jurisdiction. Jane O'Connor, who led the complaint when it was made on the eve of VE Day commemorations, said: "This is ridiculous. My father flew through the mushroom clouds, his blood tests were removed from his medical record, and we found them hidden at the Atomic Weapons Establishment under national security. The same probably happened to thousands of servicemen. That's a crime of national importance the Met should investigate, and it's certainly not historic." * You can support the veterans' fight for justice HERE Steve Purse, who has been unlawfully denied access to blood tests taken from his father during a series of toxic plutonium experiments in the Australian Outback in 1963, said: "They're forgetting the people who are the victims of these crimes. The Ministry of Defence is physically next door to Scotland Yard. It feels like they're refusing to look over the garden fence in case it upsets the neighbours." The Met has passed the complaint to Thames Valley Police, on the grounds that the AWE is in Berkshire. But Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, who first called for a police investigation last year and supported the complaint, said: "There is a widely-held belief that the misconduct in public office is taking place literally yards from Scotland Yard. So it makes no sense whatsoever for this crucial case to be transferred to a smaller force many miles away." The Nuked Blood Scandal blew open three years ago with a 1958 memo between atomic scientists about "gross irregularity" in the blood tests of Jane's dad, Group Captain Terry Gledhill. It led to a database, codenamed Merlin, which was locked as a state secret. After parts of it were forced open, it was found to contain more than 30 separate orders for blood monitoring of troops of all three armed forces, and thousands of pages of blood tests, blood data, and official discussion. The MoD had previously denied to courts and Parliament that any such biological monitoring took place. The entire database is due to be declassified as a result of the Mirror's investigation, but ministers refuse to say how or why it was locked in the first place. John Morris, who despite a radiogenic blood disorder and cancer has been denied a war pension after his medical records were missing the results of blood tests and chest x-rays, said: "We're just numbers to them, not people. If that's not the Met's jurisdiction, I don't know what is. Perhaps they need a lawnmower to cut back all that long grass before they kick our case into it." London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who oversees policing for the capital, has been contacted by. MPs, voters and neighbous, all asking him to ensure the scandal is properly investigated. In 2021, Khan signed a letter by all metro mayors calling for "truth and justice for our nuclear test veterans". A spokesman for the Met said: "It was determined that allegations related to alleged offences against an organisation based in Berkshire. As a result, the investigation was transferred to Thames Valley Police in late June. We refute the claim that the Met has refused to investigate this. At this stage of this investigation, the report is sitting with the most appropriate force." A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "We have recently been made aware of alleged crimes related to historic nuclear tests. At this early stage, we are not in a position to provide further information." The Mirror's dossier of evidence has been passed to both forces.
