Labor beasts roar in support of nuclear testing heroes

Shadow ministers, backbenchers and underground mayors unite to demand an end to Britain's biggest scandal

Shadow Secretary of Defense John Healey has vowed to fight for justice with nuclear veterans (

Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

Labour's big beasts gave Britain's nuclear test heroes the full support of the party, bringing hope to end their 70 years of injustice.

Shadow ministers, metro mayors and backbench MPs have joined the Mirror in insisting that the next Labor government finally give them recognition in all its forms.

About 22,000 servicemen took part in hundreds of radiation experiments during the Cold War between 1952 and 1991, and they are now proven to be at increased risk of cancer, death and suicide. Their wives have miscarried and their children have 10 times the normal rate of birth defects, yet they have been repeatedly denied war pensions, their own health records and even a medal.

Shadow Secretary of Defense John Healey, addressing a side event with veterans and their supporters, said: "There is no good reason, no good moral reason, no good military reason, to refuse the recognition and compensation that other countries have had. Your campaign is our campaign. It's a commitment we are determined to keep."

Veterans, led by backbencher Rebecca Long-Bailey, are calling for a medal, a national apology, a public inquiry, genetic research and education programs.

Healey, who will help craft the manifesto for the upcoming general election, responded by saying, "I want to make sure we go into the next election with a promise to right this injustice and finally bring the Great Britain, after 70 years, alongside those other atomic testing nations who have done well with their veterans and their families. And we will."

He congratulated the families and the Mirror's 40-year recognition campaign. "These are the people I'm most proud to speak alongside," Healey said. "There are a lot of newspapers claiming to be campaigning for titles, but the Mirror, with this campaign, is attacking the whole British establishment."