Rishi Sunak urged to ask King Charles to award medal to nuclear test veterans

Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey says veterans are counting on the PM to end their 70-year injustice

The PM can request a medal, if he wishes (

Image: Getty Images)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been asked to request an audience with King Charles to ask him to award a medal to Britain's nuclear test veterans.

The Mirror reported yesterday that a Cabinet Office source confirmed that a medals committee had ruled against a gong for atomic heroes, despite promises from the last 3 prime ministers that they all backed one .

Veterans are now waiting to see if the decision will be overturned.

Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey told Parliament that the medal rules 'make it clear that the Prime Minister can personally make a direct recommendation to the Sovereign on a medal matter'.

She asked, "Is he now going to recommend that these service members finally get the medal they deserve?"

Young Minister of Defense Andrew Murrison, a former Navy doctor, said: 'She really shouldn't read everything she sees in the pages of the Daily Mirror.'

He added, "The case is being reviewed under the well-established historical medal case review process, and the outcome will be announced in due course."

Shadow Minister of Veterans Affairs Rachel Hopkins asked him to commit to a clear timeline for medal recognition for tested veterans, and a review of committee processes.

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Labour announced yesterday that when in power it would reconsider the rules of the medals process, as it overlooked 'strong cases' like nuclear veterans, as well as modern veterans like those of Operation Pitting, the evacuation from Afghanistan last year.

This decision was only reversed after political pressure, with a Pitting clasp added to the existing Afghanistan medal.

But Murrison replied, "She fell into the same trap as her honorable friend...she really shouldn't take what she reads in the press at face value. She shouldn't confuse commemorative coins and medallions with the medals."

Murrison has been accused by activists of being "condescending" and "ignorant" in his responses.

Last week, after the Mirror reported that Defense Secretary Ben Wallace had told parliament he would not attend the Plutonium Jubilee commemoration later this month, the Ministry of Defense Defense announced that he would attend after all.