Asbestos deal will not help everyone

Jan 25 2010 The Journal

“I am very disappointed and I have made that clear to the Prime Minister and Justice Secretary. But we have made progress and our crusade is not yet over.”

David Reid, 63, a former Swan Hunter and Walker Naval Yard labourer who lives in Fenham, Newcastle, said: “We deserve compensation but we’ve been forgotten.

“I suffer with this condition every day of my life, but it seems to me I’m only entitled to any money when I’m at death’s door. It’s disgusting.”

Alan Ritchie, general secretary of UCATT, said: “The Government is intending to pay compensation from an already severely overstretched public purse when it is the insurers who are liable.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the Government would make an announcement in due course, but she added: “The House of Lords decision has raised extremely complex and difficult issues, which have required very careful consideration within Government.

“It has also been important to look beyond the issue of pleural plaques itself to consider how people who have been exposed to asbestos can be supported much more widely.

“We are actively considering all these issues, and have discussed these with a range of medical experts, in order to be in a position to publish a final response as soon as possible.”