Bhopal Gas Explosion Investigations

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2022 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey, and to be involved in the debate. May I say how pleased I am to see the hon. Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) setting the scene? He asked me last week whether I would come along and participate, and as I always do when I am asked to, I do so, but I also come along because he deserves support and he secured this debate for people who have been disadvantaged in every way. It is a real pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell), who sets the scene so well with his knowledge of the issues. He asked all the questions to which the Minister needs to respond.

Is it 33 years ago that the Bhopal disaster took place? When we think about that length of time and how people still suffer, I tell myself this: if this happened in Stockport or Strangford, we would not stop bringing questions or statements to the House, the Chamber, the Minister—whoever they were—and the Government to get satisfaction. I fully support what the hon. Member for Stockport says, because we have a duty, as I often say, to those who perhaps do not have a voice in Bhopal, across India and in other parts of the world. In this House, we have the privilege to be Members of Parliament and to bring these issues to the Minister’s attention.

The Bhopal gas explosion has had numerous long-lasting impacts up to this very day, and others have raised that issue. The industrial disaster is considered the worst in world history, yet the suffering goes on, which is disturbing. We must support further investigations into the Bhopal gas explosion, not to finger point—it is not always about finger pointing—but to find solutions. It is about how we can help the people and doing our due diligence in this place to ensure that further events do not occur anywhere else.

The impacts of this disaster are unheard of, although Members who have spoken and those who will speak later are highlighting just how important these issues are and what we need to do. To this day, the Union Carbide plant site has never been properly cleaned up and continues to poison the 2.5 million residents of Bhopal. What country in the world would let that go on and not be responsive to try to sort it out? Union Carbide did not give one penny of litigation until 1989, and furthermore it did not alert the communities and the people to the risks of drinking water near the site. I believe that Union Carbide is greatly in the court of blame in relation to negligence and intent that led to deaths and injury.

The right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington referred to the ongoing care and treatment that are required, and it is important that we respond in a positive fashion through this debate. Little did residents know that the water was lethally contaminated—that was not exposed until 1999, when Greenpeace ran a series of tests. We have a process in this country that is applicable across the world, which is the “polluter pays” principle, by which the polluter takes responsibility and pays for subsequent damages. Union Carbide and its new partner company refuse point blank to clean the factory or pay a penny towards the clean-up. I know that is not the Minister’s responsibility, but what has come back on that in her discussions with the Indian Government and perhaps with other officials?

While I appreciate that this is a separate issue, the seed of “polluter pays” was initially planted with the gas explosion in 1984, and some might say that not enough has been done to initiate further support. In response to a parliamentary question from the hon. Member for Stockport only at the end of last month—he referred to it, and I will quote it—the FCDO said:

“Union Carbide and DfID programmes ended in 2013 and 2015, respectively. The FCDO has had no direct engagement with the State Government on the gas tragedy since 2015.”

Wow, that is a real disappointment. I am not pointing the finger or criticising the Minister or the Government, but perhaps this debate will initiate the follow-on that the hon. Member for Stockport and other Members here would wish to have.

In answer to another parliamentary question, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said that the Bhopal tragedy

“continues to affect the citizens of Bhopal to this day.”

If it does, we need to engage again with renewed fervour and pressure to try to get the answers we are after.

It is widely acknowledged that while there has been instrumental support, through aid and healthcare services to Madhya Pradesh, the fact of the matter is that livelihoods are still damaged today. Furthermore, there has been ongoing discussion as to where accountability lies. We are aware that in 2001, the Dow Chemical Company bought the company. I therefore believe Dow inherited its legal liabilities along with its assets. It is not as if ownership can just be swapped and then everything just drops—it is much more than that. There is a moral case that must be answered.

There are lasting impacts for the second and even the third generation of children who have been born into that environment. The right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington referred to those who were pregnant losing their babies. The hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Kim Johnson) also referred to people being affected by cerebral palsy, autism, muscular dystrophy and severe learning difficulties. I believe accountability must be delivered for those people. We can only pray that this does not prolong the devastation for further generations of new-born children, with long-lasting impacts on their parents.

To conclude, I am mindful of how important this debate is. We have a responsibility to ensure those at fault are held to account for the devastations that the people of Bhopal are facing, and have been facing for over 33 years. There is no doubt potential for our Government to be in direct contact with the state Government of Madhya Pradesh again. If there was one thing I would ask of the Minister, it would be that. I say this honestly: I know that the Minister will take on board our requests and try to respond in a way that will satisfy us.

I see it from a different point of view, but it is the same issue and the same principle applies. We speak up for those who have no voice. This debate is an opportunity to do that, and to ask for a response from the Minister that can give us some assurance that those people are not forgotten. We are all too aware of the many legalities surrounding who pays the price, and who picks up the pieces. However, for some time—33 years—the only people paying the price have been those living in Bhopal. I look forward to seeing potential progress on this. I hope the FCDO and the Minister will take the subsequent steps to lobby those responsible to do their moral duty and to sort it out.