Nuclear veterans' help plea

Veterans Jim McGowan, Ken Sutton and Tommy Duggan

Servicemen who say their rights were violated when they were forced to witness nuclear test explosions in the 1950s have lobbied the Scottish Parliament.

The veterans claim they were given no anti-radiation protection and have suffered from serious illnesses as a result.

Their long-running legal battle has yet to yield any compensation and they are appealing to MSPs for help.

Members of the Nuclear Test Veterans Association were met by Scottish National Party MSPs, Andrew Welsh, and Michael Matheson.

Mr Matheson has also put forward a motion for debate on the issue in the parliament.

A motion for debate is being lodged

Mr Welsh said: "Although this is a reserved matter, in issues as important as this, it is important that the Scottish Parliament uses its powers to debate this particular subject.

"The treatment of Britain's nuclear test veterans has been a disgrace, which successive governments should be ashamed of.

"It is up to this parliament to voice its support for the veterans and for us to do what we can to see that justice be done."

Mr Matheson added: "I'm lodging this motion with the parliament, in order to gather cross-party support on this issue, and I hope the motion will be selected for debate.

"For too long, governments have chosen to ignore the case put forward by nuclear veterans, and they should be ashamed of their failure to compensate these veterans.

Compensation battle

"For many of the veterans it is now too late to be compensated, and of those still living many suffer from ill health. Further delay is unacceptable."

The European Court of Human Rights refused in January to reopen the cases of two veterans who claimed the tests triggered health problems from radiation.

Ken McGinley, a 61-year-old former Royal Engineer from Renfrewshire, and 60-year-old former Navy sailor Edward Egan, from Glasgow, had claimed they developed serious illnesses including cancer following the tests.

The Ministry of Defence has granted pensions to ex-servicemen and widows, but will not admit liability.

About 12,000 servicemen witnessed nuclear tests on Christmas Island - in what is now the Republic of Kiribati - during the 1950s. Some 3,000 are still alive.