The Government has admitted it has kept medical results of military veterans who survived British nuclear tests a state secret, prompting a furious outrage.
Blood and urine samples from servicemen, civilians and indigenous people during the Cold War are among the thousands of personal records being held in a move that Tory grandee Sir John Hayes slammed as ‘beggars belief’.
The confidential documents could reveal whether those made to witness the atomic bomb tests had radiation enter their body, which could lead to a huge payout for veterans if they can prove the health consequences.
Veterans who survived the experiment are suing the government for the missing records after claiming they have endured 70 years of high rates of cancer, miscarriages and birth defects.
The soldiers only realised the effects of the nuclear blasts later in life when their children were born with severe medical issues such as spinal deformities, heart defects and sterility.
The Government has admitted it has kept medical results of military veterans who survived British nuclear tests a state secret. Pictured: Nuclear test veterans on Christmas Island
Pictured: The crew of the HMS Narvik watch the smoke rise after a British atomic test in 1956
Blood and urine samples from servicemen, civilians and indigenous people during the Cold War are among the thousands of personal records being held in a move that Tory grandee Sir John Hayes slammed as ‘beggars belief’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is now facing calls for the files to be made public. Previously the Ministry of Defence denied it held the records, until the Mirror revealed a cache of 150 documents discussing blood tests last year.
Reacting to the revelation MP Sir Hayes said: ‘It beggars belief that a diagnostic medical test confirming whether or not radiation entered a person’s body, with possible long-term health consequences, is in any way a state secret.
‘Veterans and survivors of this weapons testing have a legal and moral right to know what if anything happened to their bodies as a result, and I am sure they can be disclosed to individuals without any impact on national security.’
The Mirror reported that in 2018 the Ministry of Defence denied that the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) holds any evidence that blood samples were taken at nuclear tests until it rowed back on the claim in 2023.
Freedom of Information requests by the paper revealed how both blood and urine samples were taken at test sites under a Lord Chancellor’s instruction, which is why the documents could be held from the National Achieves
Culture minister John Whittindale admitted to Parliament the withholding of such documents is down to various factors including national security, security against possible terrorist activity and international relations.
He also said ‘the risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons or to allow a more detailed review’ are also reasons to retain the files.
The files are said to relate to three nuclear tests in that took place in 1957 dubbed Operation Antler.
Pictured: Britain’s first nuclear test on Christmas Island in May 1957
A crowdfunder was set up on behalf of the veterans by award-winning freelance journalist Susie Boniface, who has covered the campaign since 2002
One of the files, seen by the Mirror, is said to have been entitled ‘nuclear test veterans’ and were said to have first been hidden when Tony Blair came to power in 1997.
The AWE has been asked to confirm how many other records were also hidden in similar fashion, with Labour leader Keir Starmer pledging to give veterans and their families affected their records and compensation if they take office.
Those affected by the testing were previously asked to come forward by law firm McCue Jury & Partners, with managing partner Jason McCue stating that nuclear veterans had been ‘gaslighted by the British state’.
John Morris, from Rochdale, was working in a laundry at Christmas Island in 1957 where he witnessed three atom bombs and an H-bomb.
The 86-year-old developed pernicious anemia at just 26, while his son died at just four months. But he was denied a war pension because of a lack of evidence, despite being blood tested throughout his time on the n island.
Mr Morris added: ‘I’ve lost a child, I’ve had cancer, and I’ve had a blood disorder since I was 26 years old. All the MoD has given us in return for securing the nuclear deterrent is a bunch of lies. We just want the bloody truth and we will fight for that to the bitter end.’
Nearly £21,000 has now been raised to help nuclear veterans sue the Government for ‘the toxic legacy of trauma and illness they have been left to endure’.
Servicemen were ordered to sail or crawl through the radioactive fallout to test the effects of radiation, as well as fly through mushroom clouds on sampling missions.
Many lived on testing sites for a year or more and when they returned began developing rare blood disorders and cancers, often proving fatal.
Their wives had three times the normal rate of miscarriages and their children suffered 10 times the normal rate of birth defects.
The British government carried out hundreds of explosions of atom bombs, fissile material, trigger devices and thermonuclear weapons in the US, and South Pacific following the Second World War.
The biggest of which was Operation Grapple Y in 1958 which was 112 times more powerful than those that levelled Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan.
A crowdfunder was set up last year on behalf of the veterans by award-winning freelance journalist Susie Boniface, who has covered the campaign since 2002.
Describing the battle on CrowdJustice, she said: ‘That living nightmare is the daily reality for thousands of nuclear testing veterans and their families – 70 years.
‘Now, they have one last chance to sue the Government for the toxic legacy of trauma and illness they have been left to endure.’
She continues: ‘More than a decade ago, the Ministry of Defence defeated the last legal attempt to prove radiation caused these men’s injuries, by arguing they had brought the action too late.
‘Now we know that the Government concealed evidence, we can compel them to produce it.
‘With this comes a new chance for justice, and a final opportunity to tell these men they can stand at ease, and in honour.
‘Please dig as deep as you can to help these families in their last and biggest battle for the truth. Thank you for hearing them.’
has contacted the Military of Defence.