Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Victory for nuke test veterans in battle for medal
Mirror wins campaign to finally honour heroes Fight goes on for war pensions & medical files
NUCLEAR test veterans wept and applauded as they were told they would finally get a medal following years of campaigning.
But afterwards they told PM Rishi Sunak: “We need more.”
Yesterday he promised to meet them to discuss their need for war pensions, education packages and the release of withheld medical records.
Anna Smith, whose husband Barry was refused a war pension in 2009 a week before he died of pancreatic cancer, said: “It’s only a medal but it’s recognition he existed. That he fought to get justice and he was denied it.”
The medal marks the 70th anniversary, the Plutonium Jubilee, of Britain’s first atomic test. It has been the subject of a four-year Mirror campaign.
Mr Sunak described the honour as “an enduring symbol of our country’s gratitude” for those involved in the tests.
At a commemoration at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffs, he said: “At the height of the Cold War, often unseen and unsung, you were in the forefront of our defence.
“But your service deserves more. So I am very pleased to announce the King has decided to recognise that service formally by creating a new medal for those who served at nuclear tests.”
The Nuclear Test Medal will be made in the New Year, and activists hope to get them at Buckingham Palace. More than 200 vets and families were at yesterday’s event including emotional Eric Barton and Ed Mcgrath.
John Morris, 85, of Rochdale, Gtr Manchester, said: “We are a nation that can now be proud of our nuclear test veterans.”
His granddaughter Laura told the Prime Minister: “This is great but there’s so much more that needs to be done.”
Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer honoured troops who have died and praised activists and media who backed them. He said: “This is a new beginning of official recognition.”
Stuart Ross, 58, of Hertford, said he would ask for the medal owed to his father Archie, a longterm campaigner who died from leukaemia in 2015, aged 81.
Last week the Mirror revealed veterans had blood and urine taken during tests but the MOD has refused access to them.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “I’m glad these heroes will be given the recognition they deserve, but it has been far too long in coming.
“The PM must now release their blood records, and an investigation must begin to uncover why veterans have been blocked from seeing them.”
This is great but there’s so much more that needs to be done LAURA MORRIS TO PM RISHI SUNAK