Why Nuclear Veterans are Being Silenced

Email from Dennis Hayden

Hi Ann ,

Happy New year to all ,

Thank you for copy of the report by Terry Kelly in the UK North East Press . It is true that nuclear veterans in UK are still awaiting the result of the Supreme Court hearing of November 2011 . However whether this phase of the litigation is successful or not , it will not be the end of litigation here , we are intent not to be silenced .

Much else is happening here .

1) We have the Tribunal Appeal Hearing ( for 17 cases for pensions) , postponed but still to be heard in the High Court .
2) A Freedom of Information Tribunal Case mid – February
3) Great interest and support in the Scottish Parliament ( see attched report sent on the 14th December )
4) A revived investigation into the ‘unlawful killing ‘ of a nuclear test veteran dated back to 2001 with a submission of new evidence .

All the above should bring good publicity .We are confident 2012 will bring positive progress .

All the best ,

Dennis

The following is more than “very interesting” . It’s shows that Veterans are supposed to die as secret victims for the sake of information that was Born Secret, remains secret, yet which the very genetic code of their bodies bears witness to. (Paul)

WHY NUCLEAR TEST VETERANS ARE BEING SILENCED

A NEW YEAR REPORT BY THE ACTION EXECUTIVE OF
THE COMBINED VETERANS’ FORUM INTERNATIONAL ( CVFI )
For International Distribution – 4th January 2012

To : Susie Boniface , Sunday Mirror’s Justice for Nuclear Veterans Campaign

Copy :The Atomic Veterans’ Claimants Group
Rosenblatt Solicitors of London
Ian Anderson , Advocate and Attorney ay Law , New York ( Legal Advisor to the CVFI )
Others internationally with an interest .
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THE CONTENT OF THIS REPORT IS TAKEN FROM SCIENTIFIC AND OTHER EVIDENCE THAT HAS ENTERED THE PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE LAST DECADE .
IT IS INFORMATION THAT COULD HAVE REMAINED HIDDEN FROM THE PUBLIC IF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE HAD DONE THE HONOURABLE THING MANY DECADES AGO AND ADOPTED THE PRINCIPLE THAT NUCLEAR TEST VETERANS SHOULD BE TREATED THE SAME AS OTHER LOYAL SERVICEMEN WHO HAVE BEEN INJURED , DISABLED , SUFFERED LEGACY ILL HEALTH OR PREMATURE DEATH IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY .
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
4th January 2012
Dear Susie ,

Happy new year. Please pass our thanks also to your editor for the continued support of the Sunday Mirror’s “ Justice for Nuclear Veterans Campaign” .

With reference to your Sunday Mirror Report 13th November 2011 : A letter from the Atomic Veterans Claimants Group for delivery on the 14th which tells the Prime Minister :

“ We call on you to right the wrong and let us have our say before we die and are silenced forever .”

To date, we understand no answer to that letter has come from the Prime Minister .

We suspect the Prime Minister has consulted with officials at the Ministry of Defence and his response will remain one of silence except for the continued evasive mantra :

“ We are grateful for the contribution made by all service personnel who took part in the nuclear weapons tests etc. etc . ” .

We now believe the public are overdue an explanation of why successive UK governments, ministers and Prime Ministers remain silent on this issue .

WHY THE NUCLEAR TEST VETERANS ARE BEING SILENCED

Many journalists have been puzzled in recent years why the efforts of the Atomic Veterans’ Claimants Group ( AVCG ), led by Rosenblatt Solicitors of London, have been so fiercely contested by the Ministry of Defence at vast , and seemingly bottomless expense, to the tax payer .

In the last decade, and still continued today, officials at the MoD have been paid in excess of £40 million per annum in bonus payments as “ reward for good performance” .( Report in the Daily Mail , by Ian Drury Defence Correspondent, 3rd January and others earlier ). Payments, in annual bonuses, to MoD officials in the last decade is now reported to be in excess of £400 million.

The media , like many of the general public with an interest in this subject , are particularly bemused because, for example, the United States , France , China and Russia have recognised the fact that their loyal servicemen who attended nuclear weapons test locations were genetically damaged by gamma radiation and ingested and inhaled fall out from nuclear weapons test experiments . These countries have compensated their veterans .

The question remains : “ Why are the Ministry of Defence so hostile towards reaching a mediated settlement of nuclear test veterans and widows claims ?”

Nuclear test veterans and widows believe the press and the general public deserve to know why compensation for damage to health of UK nuclear test participants is beings so fiercely contested . Based on political and scientific information obtained by CVFI associates and by individual nuclear test veterans over several decades and passed to the legal team acting on behalf of the AVCG the following provides the explanation .

The fierce contesting of litigation by the MoD results from the 1950’s cold war Prime Ministerial policy edict of Sir Anthony Eden which decided that scientific warnings of the danger of genetic damage in nuclear test veterans from exposure to radiation could be ignored as “ a pity , but it cannot be helped.”

This policy edict has been passed down from officials within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to all successive Prime Ministers and upheld for over fifty years . It explains the bizarre backward somersaulting of countless Ministers from their previous firm support when in opposition . Bizarre, because the only excuse offered is they have become “ privy to new information on becoming a Minister” only they never , ever explain the new information they have become privy to . This report explains why .

Nuclear test veterans and widows have in fact appealed to all successive UK Prime Ministers, since the mid – 1980’s to lift Eden’s edict and honourably settle our grievances . The latest appeal : “ We call on you to right this wrong and let us have our say before we die and are silenced forever “ in the AVCG’s letter to the current Prime Minister is very prescient .

The policy of successive governments since the cold war has been to delay , block and prevent the nuclear test veterans from ever having their say in an open court .This has been achieved by way of the Official Secrets , Crown Proceedings and the Limitation Acts etc over many decades . The MoD hoped these legal technicalities would delay justice for sufficient time until all nuclear veterans and widows are dead and the veterans preferably cremated rather than buried . The intent of the MoD and successive governments has always been to silence genetic damage in tissue , organs and bones of nuclear test veterans forever .

We believe it is in the public interest that the media and general public know that surviving nuclear test veterans , their widows and genetically impaired children and grandchildren are determined that remaining silent will not happen . With, or without, a court appearance we intend to have our say .

We have given notice to senior UK politicians many times in recent years that delays in addressing our grievances would only allow more time for damaging and embarrassing information and evidence to emerge .These warnings have been ignored and therefore , just as we have been forced with no other option other than to take legal action against the Ministry of Defence. We have also been forced, by the failure of successive Prime Ministers to act reasonably , to ensure the press and the general public fully understand why the Government are so intent to silence us .

We are being silenced, by political betrayal, for reasons deemed to be in the national interest .We have no objection that Ministers believe it is in the national interest to protect nuclear industry but we do object that in order to do so persons potentially exposed to ionising radiation in the past are not given regular annual health checks which would include cytogenetic blood test for genetic damage . The methods deployed against the interests of loyal servicemen who participated in the nuclear weapons test experiments since the cold war instead include the following :
Secret examination of tissue , organs and body parts of
nuclear industry workers and nuclear test veterans .

Michael Redfern QC published his report on tissue analysis at nuclear installations on the 16th November 2010 . This report took some three and half years to complete and covers 655 pages .It was originally set up to investigate claims by the families of deceased nuclear industry worker that their beloved ones body parts had been secretly removed for examination , without family consent , for analysis and destruction . One bereaved family found the body of a nuclear industry worker in his coffin had a broom stick put in place of a removed leg bone to give the appearance on burial that the body was whole and not desecrated.

The Redfern Report links Nuclear Test Veterans and Power Workers
in on-going medical research programmes .

On page 89 under the section – Whose organs and why – the Report’s author wrote :

“Besides nuclear power workers it lists …Service veterans who attended nuclear weapons tests .”

On page 90 under the section – Analysis outside the nuclear industry – the author wrote :

“ The motives for the work appear to have been similar to those set out in relation to nuclear industry , namely scientific research and potential claims for damages .”

After examination, the body parts have been reported to have been destroyed to avoid future compensation claims .

Ministry of Defence officials frequently brief Ministers in letters and statements to veterans and to the press that records during the nuclear weapons test experiments were “ detailed and meticulously kept” this is confirmed by Michael Redfern QC in page 648 of his report :

“ …and it is helpful that the inquiry recommends that the radioanalytical results should remain for bona fide scientific research , so that at least these autopsy tissue analysis can continue to provide information to reinforce the scientific basis of radiological protection .”

The phrases “results should remain for bona fide scientific research …. to reinforce the scientific basis of radiological protection” indicates these records are still available .

THEREFORE THE RESULTS OF SECRET TISSUE ANALYSIS OF BOTH NUCLEAR INDUSTRY WORKERS AND NUCLEAR TEST VETERANS HAVE BEEN “ DETAILED AND METICULOUSLY KEPT.”

THESE RECORD SHOULD THEREFORE BE PUT INTO THE HANDS OF SOLICITORS ACTING ON BEHALF OF VETERANS .

This will be resisted of course . If the examination of tissue had shown negative contamination impact on nuclear veterans the MoD , their lawyers and the government ministers would have been exultant and published the findings in a peer reviewed scientific journal as strong evidence to stop our case . Yet nothing has happened . We believe the following is a most important question that must be answered .

“ WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF TISSUE ANALYSIS
TAKEN FROM DECEASED NUCLEAR TEST VETERANS ? “

However , from past experience , when attempting to gain access to information on radiation doses , individual blood analysis etc from the Ministry of Defence or surrogate department acting on their behalf, such as those listed in the Redfern Report , that is , the Medical Research Council , Atomic Weapons Establishment , Health Protection Agency , assorted NHS doctors , pathologists and coroners etc, it soon becomes apparent that the ‘detailed and meticulously kept data’ is mysteriously not available , has been lost or if ever made available under Freedom of Information Questions is heavily censored by black ink .

Sometimes , the cross department co-operation breaks down and questions directed to the MoD and ignored are answered by one of the surrogate departments above or by Freedom of Information questions .

We suspect that not only will the Prime Minister continue to be advised to uphold the cold war edict it’s “a pity , but it cannot be helped “ but the Government will also continue to refuse to release the results of the secret tissue analysis into the public domain . This appears to be the only option left to them .

Why the MoD will refuse to release the results of secret tissue analysis .

The Redfern Inquiry Report confirms the link between nuclear industry workers and nuclear test veterans . Michael Redfern QC also confirms the motive for the destruction of the body parts after examination . Why the secrecy ?

The answer is contained in an archive document obtained in the last decade entitled –

“ Top Secret . Draft Press Statement .
Biological Investigation at Atomic Tests in Australia 1956 “.

Summary of content reads as follows :

The document states the PURPOSE of agreed 1956 biological investigations between the UK and Australian governments is to :

a )Devise more effective methods of protection of population and agriculture in event of a nuclear war .

b) Study the effects of ingested radioactive fall out ( by men and animals ) . The last four words in brackets have been crossed out on the document obtained from the National Archives.

The document also states the BENEFITS of the biological investigation will be :

c) Of considerable value in relation to the peaceful use of nuclear energy .

d) To allow further development of effective precautions to avoid hazards to population from the use of nuclear reactors and to further our knowledge of radioactive contamination.

The document states that “ atomic bomb trials provide a unique opportunity for studying aspects of the subject .”

Overall aim of the experimental nuclear weapons programme

The Redfern Inquiry confirms a link between medical research , the nuclear test veterans and industry workers .

The above secret tissue analysis and biological investigations at nuclear test sites has afforded the Government with tissue analytical statistics and data to compare the results of radioactive contamination between both sets of occupationally protected ( civilian workers )and unprotected victims ( nuclear test veterans ) that is :

a) civilian nuclear workers are protected from ionising radiation. Over 290 retired nuclear industry workers ( after a lifetime of working in an area of potential exposure to radiation ) have been given cytogenetic blood testing for chromosomal damage .

b) nuclear test veterans were exposed without protection from gamma radiation and fall out . The UK government have refused UK veterans from obtaining cytogenetic blood tests for chromosomal damage .

Archive information shows the Ministry of Defence were notified of genetic testing technology in 1984 . A nuclear test veteran examined by the Medical Research Council Unit at Edinburgh was shown to have elevated genetic damage . However since that date the MoD have refused to carry out any such advanced medical monitoring on any UK nuclear veterans which can detect genomic instability and chromosomal aberrations ( genetic damage ) induced by exposure to radiation .

We believe if ever a comparison were made between genetically tested nuclear test veterans and civilian nuclear workers this would probably show :

a) surviving nuclear test veterans have a HIGHER level of genomic instability and chromosomal translocations accrued over 12 months or so exposure to gamma and fall out radiation than nuclear industry workers after a lifetime of work in industry .Who knows what figure would result from our comrades who died prematurely from leukaemias and other legacy ill health etc ? The evidence of contamination from fall out would still be available in the bones of exhumed veterans .( Strontium –90 , Beryllium etc etc )

b) civilian nuclear power workers will have a LOWER level of genetic damage due to better protection and regular health monitoring over a lifetime of occupational work .

This factor alone will ensure , we believe , that the analytical records of tissue taken from both nuclear industry and nuclear test veterans will NEVER be allowed to enter the public domain for comparison .

NUCLEAR TEST VETERANS ARE STILL PART OF MEDICAL RESEARCH

Freedom of Information questions in the last two years have revealed that surviving nuclear test veterans are still ‘ flagged’ for secret Medical Research on death under medical research programme- MR 185 .

Civilian nuclear workers are flagged under MR183 and 183a . The nuclear industry workers have a trade union which ensures they have better protection and medical monitoring .

The nuclear test veterans on the other hand have had to rely on the bad faith of politicians and MoD officials who have held in place a cold war edict “ a pity , but it cannot be helped .” The veterans are victim to a department that offered no protection from the gamma radiation and fall out at nuclear test experimental locations , no health monitoring , no follow- up duty of care under a non – existent military covenant . The nuclear test veterans have been politically abused and betrayed . They have been politically excluded from a duty of care in order to protect nuclear industry .

It is not the entire fault of successive Prime Ministers . They have inherited a long established cold war policy whereby nuclear test veterans have been part of a continued experimental programme for the protection of nuclear industry.

We will have our say before we die . What we have found , we believe is probably just the tip of an iceberg .There is probably still more to come . We have found the reason why successive governments are prepared to pay an endless sum of public money to keep us out of court .

We trust in the coming year of 2012 some , or all of the above , will be published as part of the Sunday Mirror’s “Justice for Nuclear Test Veterans Campaign .”

The Prime Minister, on advice from MoD officials, will probably continue to refuse to answer the letter sent to him by the Atomic Veterans Litigation Group and remain silent .

The censorship of silence however no longer applies to the nuclear test veterans . For this impasse , successive UK Ministry of Defence officials and successive governments have only themselves to blame .

With warm regards ,

Shirley Denson , Dennis Hayden , Ken McGinley ( UK ) and Roy Sefton ( NZ )
Action Executive , the Combined Veterans’ Forum International