Britain's nuclear test heroes to get Cenotaph honours despite Ministry of Defence snub

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says he has no plans to attend the event to commemorate the men who delivered Britain's nuclear deterrent at the National Memorial Arboretum on November 21

Britain's nuclear test heroes are to be given pride of place at the Cenotaph - while being snubbed by the Ministry of Defence.

Survivors of the Cold War weapons tests will lead part of the march down Whitehall on Remembrance Sunday to mark the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bomb test.

It comes as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Parliament this week that he will NOT attend a commemoration of the Plutonium Jubilee later this month, in a move which was later denied by his department, who said that he would.

Meanwhile veterans are awaiting the outcome of their third request for a medal, which is being held up by constant government crises.

Operation Grapple veteran John Morris, 85, who will be at the Cenotaph on November 13, said: “When I march past I’ll be staring them all straight in the eye.

"The Royals, the top brass, the Prime Minister. They need to see what we did for this country, and make restitution for the way we’ve been treated ever since.”

No precedence was originally given to the test veterans at the Cenotaph, as a veterans’ association did not tell the Royal British Legion about the anniversary when it first applied.

After the Mirror and campaign group LABRATS realised the mistake and got in touch with the organisers, the order of march was altered to move them to the top of the queue.

As a result, dozens of test veterans will be front and centre at the televised event for the first time.

But while media, the Royal Family, and TV audiences worldwide will all be made aware of the significance of the jubilee, the Ministry of Defence seems to be seeking to minimise the impact of a memorial service that Boris Johnson promised as a “moment of national acknowledgement”.

It will take place a week later at the National Memorial Arboretum on November 21, with pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to attend in person after he backed a medal during his race for No10. Minister for Veterans Affairs Johnny Mercer is expected to attend, along with a host of Labour shadow ministers, and backbenchers of all parties.

But Wallace told the Commons defence committee: “I don’t think I am intending to attend it, no.”

It is thought no senior officers from the Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force are planning to attend either.

Within 12 hours of the Mirror publishing the comments, the MoD u-turned and said Wallace would now attend after all.

But at the comittee, the Defence Secretary added that he had sought - which may be against all the rules - to influence the decision of the medal committee.

He said: “I fed into their process and I don’t know where we are, at that stage. I think what [the veterans] did was significant and needs recognition… we will see how it comes through that committee. But I don’t want to undermine the deliberations of that committee by revealing my position until potentially that has been done.”

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The medal decision is supposed to be independent of government, although ministers and the last three PMs have all made it clear they support a gong.

Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood also suggested that the Ministry of Defence might be committing a criminal offence, if it held any records of blood or urine samples taken from veterans during the tests.

Wallace replied: “I’m not a lawyer, but what I will say is it would be deeply wrong to withhold from ministers, or anyone else, such evidence and if anyone has any evidence they should put it before us.”

Ellwood urged him to investigate if the MoD did hold such information, and to report back to the committee.