A Salford MP debated about Nuclear Test Veterans and their missing medical health records in Parliament today.
Rebecca Long-Bailey said: “For many veterans and descendants this is relevant to their current health concerns and the treatment that they may need. From anaemia to leukemia to rare genetic conditions, which is why it’s so important for them to access this information urgently.”
Between 1952 and 1967 the UK undertook nuclear weapons testing at sites including Australia and several islands in the Pacific Ocean. Since then, veterans and civilians who took part in the testing have been alleged to have suffered health conditions as a result.
The government has thanked those who took part and issued them with a Nuclear Test Medal in November 2022, to which Long-Bailey said: “For that, I am very grateful to the government. But the minister must know that behind their proud smiles, veterans are really struggling.”
These veterans and their families have reported making repeated requests for their blood and urine samples that were taken during the Nuclear Testing. But many say that their health records do not include these test results.
Long-Bailey asks the minister if blood and urine samples were taken and whether the records of those were kept. She then adds that publicly available documents prove that tests were routine and that they existed as formal documentation and indeed there was a register and master record kept.
She added: “Yet to my knowledge the register and master records were not released nor has specific documentation relating to each individual bar one or two exceptions.
“Now the minister may of course be as perplexed as I am as to the location of such sample results and why they’ve not been released to veterans. Indeed, the government response to such, over the last few years have certainly sown a great deal of confusion.”
Hoping the minister will do all he can to honour their requests, Long-Bailey said: “All these men
are asking for is the truth.”
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