Boris Johnson promises summit with nuke test veterans after 34-year cover-up exposed
The Mirror's revelations were met with gasps today as Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey told the House of Commons that the number of men in UK nuclear weapons tests exposed to dangerous radiation was far higher than previously reported
Boris Johnson has promised a Downing Street summit with nuclear test veterans after the Mirror revealed a 34-year cover-up.
We reported yesterday how seven successive governments suppressed their own report, which showed men who served at nuclear weapons tests were 3.5 times more likely to die from leukaemia.
The report was hidden in a footnote, and no copies were ever published.
Our revelations were met with gasps in Parliament when Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey told the House of Commons today: “There’s now concern that the High Court and this house may have been inadvertently misinformed in 2008 when told that only 159 men in UK nuclear weapons tests were exposed to dangerous radiation, when today’s data shows exposure numbers were actually 2,314.
"Will he urgently investigate this and arrange to meet personally in Downing Street with my constituent, her grandad, and other nuclear test veterans, to bring an end to this national scandal.”
The PM thanked her “for bringing those facts, those new facts, to the attention the house” and pledged that his office would arrange a “proper meeting” where “we’ll be able to discuss all the issues that she’s raised”.
Nuclear bomb tests
Read the full story of the nuclear tests at DAMNED.MIRROR.CO.UK
He previously agreed to a meeting with veterans in November.
The Mirror has campaigned for recognition of the veterans since 1983 and reported on genetic research, archive documents, and personal accounts which back up their claims to have been used as guinea pigs in the Cold War race to build the bombs.
Yesterday Shadow Veterans Minister Steph Peacock told the Mirror’s News Agenda Explained podcast: “We need the government to look them in the eye, to meet the test veterans. We just need to keep putting the government under pressure. I think their position has changed slightly.”