Compensation Bill [Lords]
4:30 pm
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Lewisham East, Labour)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who is absolutely right that there was a great deal of pressure, from him and other Government Back Benchers, about the dreadful situation facing people with that tragic disease of mesothelioma. He will know that I said on Second Reading that we were determined to look carefully at the House of Lords’ judgment to see what we could do. He will, I hope, be pleased to hear that the Government intend to bring forward legislation to deal with the Barker judgment in the House of Lords, in order that those who have suffered from mesothelioma will be able to recover full compensation from negligent employers.
We intend to table an amendment to the Bill. Whether that is in Committee or on Report will be determined by how we get to the detail of it, but I assure my hon. Friend and other members of the Committee that it is our absolute intention to ensure that those who are presently suffering or who will suffer from that awful disease will get the compensation that they so rightly deserve.