Nicholas Dakin
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Nuclear Test Veterans
Nicholas Dakin Excerpts(11 years, 1 month ago)
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Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Streeter. I congratulate the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Baron) on securing the debate and on the way in which he has mobilised support both inside and outside Parliament for a very important cause: recognising the contribution of these professionals to this country’s safety—a safety that we continue to benefit from today.
At one of the first surgeries that I held when I became a Member of Parliament, two gentlemen who were nuclear veterans, David McIntyre and Peter Barnard, came to see me. They were concerned to press their case in the most modest way. They want no recognition in the sense of what we normally think of as recognition. They just want things to be put right and to be treated like anyone else who has served their country in the right way.
Mr Barnard described what it was like on Christmas Island observing the explosion and the scene. As the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay described in answer to the hon. Member for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers), those men and women, service personnel at the time, did not realise the danger that they were in and it was not clear. It has become clear only later, as events unfurled.
What is being asked for as part of the campaign for recognition is only proper and correct. It would be a good statement if all parties in the House recognised the service that those men and women performed. Treating people who have served their country properly would begin to bring us into line with other nations that have tackled the same issue. It is merely a question of stepping up to the plate. I recognise and pay tribute to the leadership that has been shown, and I hope that Government and Opposition respond to the challenge.