Former defence minister alleges MoD hid nuclear test veterans' medical data

Former veterans minister Tobias Ellwood asserted that the Ministry of Defence intentionally withheld medical records concerning participants in the UK's Cold War nuclear-testing programme. Speaking on a televised interview, Ellwood said he now believes the parliamentary information he supplied, based on MoD briefings, was entirely false. He alleges that successive ministers were briefed to claim no evidence existed, aiming to delay assistance until the veterans passed away.

The MoD countered that it has undertaken a comprehensive discovery exercise, releasing five reports that explain fragmented record-keeping and the era's high secrecy. The ministry said it examined tens of thousands of documents and engaged regularly with veterans and community groups. Between 1952 and 1967, as many as 25,000 armed-service personnel, scientists and civilians took part in tests at sites in Australia and various Pacific islands, with many veterans reporting cancers, leukaemia, heart disease and other serious health issues they attribute to radiation exposure.