Nuclear test vet heroes denied truth as government 'committed crimes against own servicemen'
PM Rishi Sunak under pressure to order public inquiry into veterans' missing medical records from MoD nuclear tests. As Britain marks Armistice Day, Labour demands Parliament debate the scandal
Nuclear test veterans' blood records have been kept hidden for 70 years, the Mirror can reveal.
The Cold War heroes want a public inquiry into whether they are victims of a criminal conspiracy by the state. The missing blood results meant veterans, such as Terry Gledhill, were denied proper care.
As Britain marks Armistice Day, Labour demands Parliament debate the scandal.
Test vets who suffered mysterious illnesses over 70 years could have been treated properly if doctors had known their blood had been nuked.
The ailing heroes claim they have been denied access to blood and urine records, which may have been falsified or destroyed, a criminal offence.
Servicemen were unwittingly used in medical experiments during the Cold War tests from 1952, and now their families allege they have been betrayed for 70 years by the state.
One, RAF storeman Bryan Towler, was told by the service his records had most likely been destroyed due to “the document retention policies at that time”, and “regrettably, we have no other means of sourcing these records”.
Jane O’Connor’s dad Terry Gledhill was one of those affected.
She said: “He spent years of his life when he was ill, writing letters to specialists and hospitals trying to find out what was wrong with him.”
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Alan Owen, whose father’s medical records are incomplete, added: “They didn’t tell the men what was done to them, in the same way scientists don’t tell the guinea pigs what they’re up to.”
Today, the Mirror publishes the results of a six-month investigation showing British servicemen are victims of what Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham branded a “criminal cover-up on an industrial scale”.
Evidence includes classified papers revealing the men had nuked blood, which were pulled from the public record after we launched a medal campaign.
PM Rishi Sunak, who said in August he would support a criminal probe, will be under pressure to launch a full statutory public inquiry.
But tonight, No10 refused to comment on his vow.
Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry said: “It was imperative that the medical records of our nuclear test veterans were maintained in a comprehensive, accurate and accessible state, so that each individual, their family and doctors could fully understand the impact that radiation exposure was having on their health. If those records have instead been concealed, altered or falsified in any way, and at any time, that is not just a scandal. It is almost certainly a crime.”
Mr Burnham added: “If the state was conducting medical tests upon servicemen and not informing them when they found serious irregularity, that is at least misconduct in public office, and more serious, perhaps gross negligence manslaughter, in respect of people who died as a result. Crimes have been committed.
“We go to the relevant police force, or there is a public inquiry.”
Nuclear bomb tests
Veterans have been repeatedly refused a medal and war pension on the grounds they were not at risk.
The 22,000 men, who faced jail if they refused to take part in the tests from 1952 to 1991, had higher cancer rates and early death. Just 1,500 are thought to survive. Wives report three times the normal rate of miscarriages.
And 20% of their children suffered birth defects, which is 10 times the national average.
Reasons given for blocking access to the information include breach of patient confidentiality and citing legislation which relates only to health records created since 1991.
The withheld data, held by the AWE on microfiche, was never provided to the UK Health Security Agency’s long-term study of the heroes. In 2019, then-Veterans Minister Tobias Ellwood told Parliament: “The MoD is unable to locate any information that suggests AWE staff took blood samples for monitoring at the tests.”
But last week he said at the Defence Select Committee that hiding such samples could be a criminal offence.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed: “If anybody has any evidence they should put it before us.” We presented our dossier of evidence to the MoD, AWE and No10, but all refused to address the details.
They issued identical statements, saying: “These allegations are completely untrue. Any medical records taken before, during or after participation at the nuclear tests would be held in individual military records in government archives.”
But AWE, owned by the MoD, has confirmed it holds “copies of the results of blood tests, where these were of interest, for a small number of individuals. AWE has results of radioactivity in urine for a small number of individuals.”
READ MORE: UK officials knew deadly radiation risks of nuclear weapons tests at the time
AWE said copies would have been sent to the MoD and Royal Air Force.
If you are a nuclear test vet, their spouse or executor of their estate, you can request any blood, urine or other records held at the AWE from information.requests@awe.co.uk.