Nuclear test veterans set for Supreme Court appeal bid

Veterans involved in Britain's nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s are taking their case for compensation to the Supreme Court.

More than 1,000 ex-servicemen say exposure to radiation during tests conducted between 1952 and 1958 left them with ill health.
A lower court said nine out of 10 lead cases were brought too late to be considered.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has contested the claims since 2004.
Veterans have been battling for recompense and a recognition of their claim that their poor health was caused by radiation exposure.
Chronic health problems cited by them include cancers, skin defects, fertility problems and birth defects in their children.

Ex-serviceman Ken McGinley talks to the BBC about witnessing the Cold War nuclear tests

But the MoD has always denied any link between the veterans' exposure to radiation and any illnesses.
The UK carried out a series of nuclear weapons tests in mainland Australia, the Montebello islands off the west Australian coast and on Christmas Island, in the Pacific in the 1950s.
Those tests were conducted against a backdrop of decolonisation and the growing Cold War threat, with the UK desperate to establish and show herself as a nuclear power.

Analysis

Caroline Wyatt Defence correspondent, BBC News

Campaigners - and many MPs - say the British government owes its atomic veterans a 'debt of honour'. Yet, while acknowledging their service, the MoD has long fought the compensation claims.
Its lawyers have argued that no causal link can be proved between the veterans' cancers, infertility and skin defects or genetic damage, and their exposure to radiation during the UK's nuclear tests.
They have also sought to prevent the cases being heard in full in court by arguing that the compensation claims should be time-barred.
It would be hard for the veterans to prove a conclusive and direct causal link between their illnesses and the nuclear tests, not least because many have no proof of what dose of radiation they were exposed to, while scientific opinion remains divided on the issue.
Veterans believe the MoD is hoping to outlast them and deny them their day in court although campaigners say their battle will continue.
The main problem for veterans is that fighting the case is becoming increasingly costly. Legal aid was withdrawn several years ago, and the legal firm representing them has already spent millions on the case - as has the MOD.

Ken McGinley, a veteran from Johnstone, Renfrewshire, told the BBC: "On Christmas Island I witnessed five bomb tests. Basically we had no protection and warnings at all.

"All we were told to do was to stand and look at the bomb [and] cover our eyes up in case we got blinded by the flash."
In June 2009, the High Court gave the current group of veterans the right to sue the Ministry of Defence.
Veterans who served in the Army, Royal Navy and Air Force - as well as personnel from New Zealand and Fiji - were all exposed to radiation.
In 1998, research from Durham University suggested that one-in-three servicemen died from bone cancers or leukaemia linked to the atomic and hydrogen bomb tests.
Last year the appeal judges said nine test cases were launched outside the legal time limit and so stopped them from proceeding.
Regarding the latest legal bid by UK veterans, BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt said: "Britain's nuclear veterans are dying at a rate of around three every month but those who remain say they are determined to continue this battle.

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