Defence in the World

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 6:19 pm on 10 June 1999.

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Photo of Mike Hancock Mike Hancock Liberal Democrat, Portsmouth South 6:19, 10 June 1999

I was talking about both categories—civilian employees and service personnel. Service personnel never had that right before and they continue to have problems. Civilian employees have a problem of proof, because it is extremely difficult for them to gain access to documentation relating to their work, which in some cases was carried out 40 years ago. If a former dockyard employee spent his entire working career working for Her Majesty at the Royal Dockyard in Portsmouth, it should be obvious that the contamination came from that source. Such matters should be agreed in compensation cases but, sadly, they are not.