MP: No evidence medical records are in secret archive
Today the Minister for Defence Procurement, Dr Andrew Murrison MP, released a Written Ministerial Statement about records held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). The Minister was following through on commitments he made in a debate last year, during which he undertook to examine records to see if medical records for nuclear test veterans were within AWE archives. In the statement, the Minister said that the AWE does not hold any medical records for any former service personnel.
John said,
“Having led the campaign ten years ago which secured official recognition from the-then Prime Minister David Cameron for the test veterans’ service, as well as a £25 million Aged Veterans’ Fund for veterans and their descendants to benefit from, I continue to follow developments closely. Lately there have been concerns that veterans’ medical records were being kept in secret AWE archives, but the Minister, who has inspected the files, states this is not the case.”
“Given there does not appear to be any evidence of the AWE, or any other branch of Government, withholding test veterans’ medical records, I hope this statement will go a long way to assuaging the concerns of the veterans and their families. If they wish to inspect their records, the Minister’s statement sets out how they can do this. The Government has also made available many of the files from the AWE archive, which can now be inspected on the gov.uk website.”
Notes to Editors:
- John was the Patron of the British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association, and transitioned to be the Patron of the Nuclear Community Charity Fund upon its foundation, which administers the test veterans’ portion of the Aged Veterans’ Fund. He subsequently stepped down as Patron but remains a keen supporter of the organisation, veterans and their families.
- The Written Ministerial Statement is available online at: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-05-21/hcws486.
- The documents are online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/atomic-weapons-establishment-awe-records-relating-to-nuclear-test-veterans
