By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-08-03 18:25:50 | Updated at 2026-08-03 21:26:56
3 hours ago
The campaign group for Britain’s Nuclear Test Veterans have given GB News exclusive access to the plans for their special tribunal as they urge the Prime Minister to “hear veterans' voices”.
Speaking to the People’s Channel today, the founder of the campaign group LABRATS International, Alan Owen, said: “If Andy Burnham is serious about turning around the UK and the Government, he can start with this tribunal, and start looking at the institutions and the establishments that have been around for hundreds of years that are hiding the truth.”
Between 1952 and 1991, thousands of British servicemen and civilians participated in the nuclear tests.
They were given no protection from radiation, and both they and their families have suffered serious and lifelong illnesses as a result of their participation.
When the now-Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, spoke in the House of Commons during the Hillsborough Law debate, he mentioned nuclear test personnel specifically.
He said: “How often in this house do we praise veterans? How have we left those veterans without truth and justice because of what happened to them all those years ago?
“I think this house needs to hear their call for a special tribunal.”
GB News can confirm the plans for that tribunal have been sent to the Prime Minister in the last couple of weeks via LABRATS International’s legal representatives.
Mr Owen said: “McCue Jury and Partners have done all of the work, outlining exactly how the tribunal would work and how we would lay it out – it's been given to him [Andy Burnham] on a plate.
“Andy Burnham has supported us so much in the past, standing with us. He stood side by side with us at an event in 2022, so he can’t not do this.
“He just needs to sit down with John Healey and Wes Streeting and go ‘right let’s do it’.”
GB News can reveal the document says the “judge-led” tribunal should be spent: “recognising the Veterans’ voices, establishing the truth, determining liability, awarding reparations to Veterans, their families and descendants, and founding an enduring legacy (including providing legitimisation as a foundation for a memorial)”.
It adds that these would provide “an opportunity to settle the injustice after 70 years, creating a positive legacy out of toxic fallout, and bringing the UK into line with other nations who have compensated their Nuclear Test Veterans and families”.
The US, France, Canada and Australia have all compensated their nuclear test veterans, with Britain remaining the only testing country to have not provided any compensation to participants or their families.
On the plans, Mr Owen told GB News: “The big thing is time, we can't have a five-year or 10-year tribunal because there won't be any veterans there to give any evidence. So, it needs to be done within a year.
“They've been to judges and done things in court before, but not in an inquiry format, like a tribunal format, where they can actually be called as witnesses, independently from the MOD. That's the key thing.
“It needs to be a chance for veterans to come and stand and tell their story and tell their testimony, and for the first time, a judge-led inquiry can hear a veteran's voice.”
The document says the “Framework” should be agreed upon before the second week of September, with the hearing commencing “no later than the start of Q2 2027 and concluding by Q4 2027”.
Many of the recommendations for the tribunal stem from the action veterans hoped would come from the Ministry of Defence’s review into their medical records.
The report, published in July, acknowledged that there has never been a “single store of records” because the Army, Royal Air Force and Navy were run by separate government departments until 1964.
It said that Cold War secrecy was a factor in the way medical records were kept and that some nuclear test veterans may have had their records inadvertently destroyed in 2023 due to “incorrect metadata”. Recommendations for what the Government should do in response were not included in the final report.
Mr Owen said: “It was really disappointing when we met Calvin Bailey to read the missing medical records, and he told us they were not publishing recommendations because there's a new administration coming in, so any new policy would have to be agreed by them. Basically, using that as an excuse to not publish them.
“Well, Andy Burnham's in place now, and he can see those recommendations, because they've already been done.
“By the time this tribunal could start off, we’re talking about January 2027. Hillsborough Law could be fully in place by then and this could be the first one that applies duty of candour.
“So, if you're [Andy Burnham] serious about it and implementing Hillsborough Law, this could be the first tribunal that actually imposes it.”
After the review into the medical records was published, Veterans Minister Calvin Bailey said: “I once again offer my personal gratitude to nuclear test veterans, their families and the organisations that represent them for their patience and engagement throughout this work.
“I hope that the documents released provide the clarity they have been seeking for so long, and I am committed to continuing to operate under the principle of transparency in the future.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman previously said: "We recognise the significant contribution that nuclear test veterans have and continue to make to our security," they said.
"We will continue to engage with the community in an open, constructive and transparent way to understand their experiences and hear concerns.
"Any veteran who has suffered ill health from their service can claim compensation through the War Pensions Scheme."
