EXCLUSIVE: Labour peer Kevan Jones has claimed that he has learned alleged briefings from civil servants that ‘lawyers were only interested in their fees’ were in fact false
Wes Streeting has been asked to investigate claims civil servants “torpedoed” the government’s compensation deal for veterans of Britain’s nuclear weapons programme.
Labour peer Kevan Jones – a former Veterans Minister and now titled Lord Beamish – has learned his 2009 offer of a £20million payout was never received by lawyers. He said: “I was told they had rejected it out of hand. Civil servants briefed me the lawyers were only interested in their fees, and I made statements to Parliament on that basis.
“I have since learned this was false, and not only were those lawyers keen to settle for the sake of their clients, but my offer was never even delivered.”
“Had my orders been followed, this would all have been put to bed for a reasonable sum. I’ve passed my papers to the Defence Secretary, and I think he should waive the MoD’s client privilege so all documentation and discussion about my settlement offer can be published.”
Solicitor Neil Sampson was representing the 1,011 vets and widows affected by the scandal at the time Lord Beamish drew up the deal. Mr Sampson said the MoD had an offer to make “but before they would tell us, we had to agree to either recommend whatever it was or, if we rejected it, we could not tell our clients”.
He added: “I would have been struck off had I agreed. It was effectively torpedoed. It bought time for the MoD to lodge an appeal, and the case was later thrown out.”
The Mirror ’s Nuke Blood Scandal campaign uncovered evidence of a secret programme of blood tests on troops, hidden behind national security and now the subject of a fresh legal battle and a major crime review by police. Thames Valley Police confirmed it is considering new leads for a full investigation.
A spokesman said: “This is a very complex matter that is receiving our full attention. There are many multifaceted enquiries, which continue, to establish a full assessment of all the facts that have been presented initially and more recently through several sources.”
An MoD spokesman said work continued on addressing veterans’ concerns, and added: “As this work progresses our focus will be on transparency, accountability and building confidence among veterans and their families.”