A Scottish veteran of British nuclear tests in the 1950s has written to Alex Salmond to ask for help in his long-running battle for compensation from the British Government.
Ken McGinley, 72, is one of 70 Scottish litigants – there are 1000 UK-wide – seeking recompense for being exposed to radiation as a result of UK atomic weapons testing in the Pacific.
In his letter, Mr McGinley asks for a meeting with the First Minister to discuss ways to force the British Government to pay, “or, failing that, find a solution whereby the Scottish Government could compensate us”.
The Scottish Government has no control over the defence budget, but Mr McGinley, who was pensioned out of the British Army in 1959, points out that the Isle of Man’s Government, which also has its defence budget deferred, passed a motion in 2008 approving £8000 compensation for each participant from the island.
Mr McGinley’s letter is the latest development in a battle for compensation that stretches back decades.
Later this month a group of veterans will go to the Supreme Court to challenge an attempt by the Ministry of Defence to have their landmark case thrown out.
The MoD has argued there is no evidence any sickness affecting the veterans was linked to their involvement in British atomic weapon tests on the Australian mainland and Christmas Island between 1952 and 1958.
But Mr McGinley, who participated in a test on Christmas Island on April 28, 1958, and who helped set up the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association in the early 1980s, has told the First Minister that all of the UK’s major wartime allies, including the US and France, have compensated servicemen exposed to radiation in such tests.
China, Russia and Canada have also set up compensation funds for their veterans.
Speaking from his home in Johnstone, Mr McGinley told The Herald that other countries put Britain to shame. “We were guinea pigs, but unfortunately we were never given the luxury that a guinea pig has – which is a medical follow-up.
“The British Ministry of Defence has been deliberately stalling and lying over the past 30 years to suit its own ends.
“The Isle of Man has no defence budget but it did an honorable thing by compensating 11 of its veterans, and we’re hoping the Scottish Government might do something like that. We have to keep pressure on the British Government because it is the sinner.”
Reports suggest the MoD has already spent £6.5m defending compensation claims. The lawyer representing the veterans, Neil Sampson, has said he wants the Government to set up a fund of around £30m to compensate eligible veterans.
Divided between the 1000 veterans pursuing the case, that’s £30,000 each. “Most are not pursuing the action for money,” added Mr Sampson. “They want an apology and a recognition that their loved ones suffered and sometimes died as a result of their service to their country. There has been an apology to the Mau Mau in east Africa recently. Maybe they’d like to do the same to their own servicemen.”
Mr McGinley suffered an internal haemorrhage months after the Christmas Island test, has skin problems and has been diagnosed as infertile.
The exposure, he argues, has left a deadly legacy for other servicemen’s children and grandchildren. “It’s the damage done to our offspring I’m fighting for now.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “While this matter is reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government minister with responsibility for veterans’ issues, Keith Brown, will be pleased to meet with the nuclear test veterans to discuss their case.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article