A veteran has accused Labour of breaking its promise to pay nuclear test “guinea pigs” £50,000 in compensation for their exposure to radiation.
Richard Savaker, 85, demanded the Government make good on “broken promises” by Defence Secretary John Healey and former shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry while in opposition.
The Navyman spent up to five months on Christmas Island, in the Pacific, in 1958 where he witnessed two nuclear bomb detonations as part of Cold War tests.
He said: “We were only 20 miles away from the explosion which is no distance at all for a nuclear explosion.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Navy but what annoyed me was the sinister way they went about it. We were out there and we just didn’t realise we were guinea pigs actually.
“These guys out there, they had no protective clothing, no biological suits. The guys in the Army were just in shorts and that was it.”
The Labour Party promised in its 2019 manifesto to compensate every surviving veteran exposed to radiation from British nuclear tests since the 1950s.
The party had said each of an estimated 1,500 surviving former personnel will receive a lump-sum £50,000 in compensation, which could total of around £75 million. But this pledge was not included in its promises to the nation for the 2024 election.
As Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer promised support to the veterans at a face-to-face meeting in June 2021 with Mr Healey and Rebecca Long-Bailey MP – who served in the shadow cabinet under Jeremy Corbyn.
After the meeting, Mr John Healey said: “All three of us in this meeting were in the shadow cabinet that signed off on that manifesto. We all backed it.”
Richard, who lives in Gosport, Hampshire, said: “My gripe about it was Thorberry, when she was in opposition made a big deal about it, and so did John Healey, he made a big deal about how we were used as guinea pigs – which we were – and they would compensate everybody with £50,000.
“Our numbers are dwindling fast and time is not on our side now so if we don’t get it pretty soon then we ain’t going to get it. They’ll make sure we’re all gone.
“What they promised in opposition, when they get in power they just go silent on the issue. I wrote to John Healey. I emailed them both to remind them of their broken promises.”
Around 20,000 British soldiers witnessed hundreds of atomic tests, with the most notorious being the Operation Grapple Y in 1958 which was more than 100 times more powerful than the bombs which levelled Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The service personnel who experienced such testing developed numerous health problems, as have some of their descendants.
Ms Thornberry, who was not given a ministerial role when the Government came to power in July, said the veterans were owed a “huge debt”.
Speaking in 2019, she had said: “The men from who from 1950s onwards who were exposed to terrible levels of radiation when overseeing Britain’s nuclear tests and who have not just seen their own health damaged as a result, but most painfully their children and their grandchildren too.
“Both the US and France have given large lump-sum payments to some of their own nuclear test veterans to help them cope with their medical problems.
“We will give a £50,000 lump sum payment to every surviving test veteran to help them and their families cope with their medical problems and give them the security and comfort they deserve in their old age.”
Two-time cancer survivor Richard, who has also lost the winter fuel payment, was stationed on a weathership which tested wind speed and direction before the hydrogen bombs were decimated.
He does not attribute his health issues directly to the explosion but added: “In my time, I knew shipmates who got cancer at a ridiculously young age. There were horrendous cases of children born with defects.”
He said: “We weren’t given the option to stay below decks, we were told to go up and witness it. Being an experimental, we thought it would be a good opportunity to experience something wonderful or something different.
“We received a countdown from the delivery aircraft throughout bridge by radio. We were told by the captain on the bridge to face 180 degrees away from the explosion and then you heard the countdown. You were told to bury your hands into your eyes. You could actually see through your hands.
“Then you experience this terrific flash Then after a minute you were told you could turn around and face it. Then you saw this mushroom cloud rising and then you heard the sound wave come towards us. A terrific whoosh as it went past you. Then there was this extreme heat on your back, like an electric fire on your back. There was an eerie silence. Everyone was completely gobsmacked by it.”
Richard was given a nuclear test medal which was pushed through the post eith the rest of the “junk mail”, he said.
He said a presentation at a navy base would have been more appropriate for his service to the nation.
A Labour source said: “Our new government recognises the huge contribution that Nuclear Test Veterans have made to national security. It’s why Keir Starmer was the first party leader to meet with campaigners and test veterans.
“We have already widened the criteria for the commemorative Nuclear Test Medal.
“Ministers are looking hard at this – including the question of records. They will continue to engage with the individuals and families affected. The Minister for Veterans and People, Alistair Carns has already met with parliamentarians and a Nuclear Test Veteran campaign group.”
