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Defeat looms for Yorkshire asbestos payout bid
The campaign to get justice for Yorkshire victims of an asbestos-related condition is on the verge of defeat, the YEP can reveal.
After 15 months of foot dragging, ministers have yet again delayed a decision over whether to compensate sufferers of pleural plaques, a scarring of the lungs which can lead to deadly asbestosis and mesothelioma.
Legislation drawn up by a backbench MP to overturn a 2007 ruling which denied payments to sufferers of the condition cleared the Commons on Friday and passed into the House of Lords.
But with only a month to go before the end of the current parliamentary session, its supporters today said it will almost certainly run out of time and be killed off in the upper chamber.
Angry Labour MPs today slammed the Ministry of Justice.
Barnsley MP Mick Clapham said: "There is just not the time now. It will get into the Lords and get lost in the Lords. Something as important as this really needed government backing.
"I am very disappointed that here we are 15 months after the consultation and still without a decision from the Ministry of Justice."
Leeds has suffered more than most through the use of asbestos, partly due to the work of the JW Roberts asbestos factory in Armley.
The Damages (Asbestos-Related Conditions) Bill was drawn up by Hendon MP Andrew Dismore to overturn the shock October 2007 Law Lords ruling, which stops sufferers who were exposed to asbestos from making claims against insurance companies.
Fifteen months ago a Government consultation paper proposed a more modest "no fault" payout scheme, which would make a fixed payment, of around 5,000, to the estimated 6,500 people already diagnosed with pleural plaques before the Law Lords judgement.
However, despite more than a year of delays, justice minister Bridget Prentice told MPs on Friday that the Government was still unable to spell out its position on the way forward for compensation.
She allowed Mr Dismore's Bill to go to the Lords but made it clear that the Government was prepared to step in and block it if necessary.
She said: "It is only right that I should apologise to all honourable members who have campaigned on this issue and to the House as a whole for the fact the Government has not yet responded."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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