Rishi Sunak snubs 'nuked blood' veterans 12 TIMES

Rishi Sunak has been accused of “a blatant act of betrayal” for refusing to meet victims of the nuked blood scandal.

Campaigners have asked the Prime Minister for a meeting 12 times in the 17 months since he took office, but have been repeatedly ignored.

Now veterans of Cold War nuclear bomb tests are preparing to take the

Ministry of Defence to court, claiming that blood samples taken during the trials may prove they were irradiated, and are now being illegally withheld.

If such blood tests exist, they could prove the veterans' claims to have been left with a legacy of cancer, blood disorders and birth defects as a result of radiation poisoning. It could lead to mass compensation payouts.

Survivor John Morris, who has been refused a war pension for a blood condition he developed after serving at Operation Grapple on Christmas Island in 1958, said: “I remember the blood tests being taken, we have found the orders for them to be taken, but they are not in my files.

“The same is true for thousands of others, and we cannot get either compensation, justice, or the right medical treatment, without those results. Only the PM can order the MoD to cough them up, and I would ask him very politely to do the right thing.”

When he was running for office, Sunak pledged his support for a criminal investigation into the whereabouts of the blood testing.

During the Tory leadership campaign in 2022, a spokesman for Sunak told the Mirror: “Rishi supports the campaign for nuclear veterans to be recognised for their service. We are incredibly grateful for our nuclear veterans’ sacrifice which kept Britain safe during the Cold War... He would also back an investigation into whether the tests represented a criminal offence towards these veterans.”

And after an event where he announced a medal a few months later, he promised a meeting to John's granddaughter Laura.

But six months after he wrote to her, saying: "I was greatly moved to meet and speak with the veterans during the event, including your grandfather... I want to thank him, not only for his years of service and campaigning, but also for bravely sharing his experiences with others.

"Unfortunately due to diary pressures, I am currently unable to meet you.”

• Nuclear families are now preparing a case for the High Court, and have set up a £100,000 crowdfunder. To donate, go to https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/nuclear-veterans-case/

Now LABRATS founder Alan Owen, whose father served at the trials, said: “We have asked him, his office, and his closest advisers, a total of 12 times since then to arrange the meeting. We’ve had two replies, which both said he’s too busy.

“From a man who saw and heard the relief that the medal brought to these families, who shook our hands for a photo, it is a blatant act of betrayal. These men delivered the nuclear deterrent, without which Rishi Sunak would not even get a phone call with other world leaders. They deserve better.”

Human rights lawyer Jason McCue, who is leading a fresh legal action by veterans, said: “It is sad the PM will not sit down with these men to discuss what is as plain as a pikestaff to everyone else. It is time we stopped treating our heroes as guinea pigs and started treating them like lions."

The Mirror, which has campaigned for the nuclear veterans since 1983, uncovered the nuked blood scandal in 2022. We showed the evidence to then-PM Boris Johnson, who confirmed that if medical records were being withheld it would be a crime.

Since then, the MoD has admitted holding documents on blood testing which it had previously denied existed, and a ministerial review of the papers we found is due to report by the end of March.

Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer has told Parliament “there is no cover-up” and claimed some of the orders were never followed. When presented with evidence of the missing records, he advised veterans to sue the government.