It has come to our attention that tommorow one of our veterans, regular readers and comment contributors, Dave Whyte, is attending a First Tier Tribunal to have his case considered by the Information Commissioner.
We wish Dave the best of luck and look forward to getting an update on how he gets on. For those who want to show their support the case will be heard: 45 Bedford Square at 10.00 hrs on Thursday 16th February, in Courtroom No 3
The Combined Veterans’ Forum International put out the following press release :
At 10 am on the 16th February an individual nuclear test veteran , David Whyte , is attending a First Tier Tribunal to have his case considered by the Information Commissioner . This is in relation to Freedom of Information Act ( FOIA ) questions directed to the Ministry of Defence ( MoD ) regarding radiation dose levels he was exposed at the nuclear weapons test experiments in the late 1950’s .
This is a David versus Goliath meeting of an individual arrangned before barristers in wigs who will be putting the case for the MoD’s reluctance to answer legitimate questions .
It appears that the FOIA is only valid up to a point . When questions asked are deemed by Ministers to be ‘sensitive’ they are then frequently referred to by Ministers as being vexatious . The shutters are then firmly brought down .
Good luck dave.dave has help the veterans case tremendously I wish him the best of luck
lets just pray that common sense prevails and we all get justice , we are the forgotten , good luck to dave
Many thanks to all who were following my case. I do not expect a decision to be made until the week commencing 27th February.
The basis of my case is that the MOD are refusing to divulge radiation levels to which I was exposed. Radiation levels were the major statistics surrounding the nuclear test programme and the human Medical research programme which were running at the same time.
The MOD managed to lose my radiation film badges, they did not bother to record the radiation levels on my QFE dosimeters. The blood count taken after the tests has disappeared but the one taken prior to the tests is in my Service Records. I had a Lymph node removed for analysis two years after the tests but the result has never been made known and my hospital records for that time cannot be traced. Any document which shows radiation appears to have been placed out of sight. With the efficiency of the MOD, one could expect one or two items to go astray, but it is stretching plausability to far to suggest that all records bearing my name should go missing accidently. After going to the trouble of hiding all trace of my documents, they now refuse to answer any question relating to radiation dose levels.
If everyone sat down and started to ask ‘Freedom of Information Questions’ the MOD might be encouraged to answer some of the questions truthfully for a change. It only takes minutes to answer a question truthfullfy but can take several hours to think up a convincing lie.
The Judge and Members of the panel were extremely knowledgeable and I feel this could lead to a satisfactory conclusion.
Time will tell.
Dave Whyte
Hi Dave, I have researched quite a bit on this subject, especially on the Naval (RAN) side of it and they MOD seem to expect that that they did every thing right, they did not, theyb dumped radioactive gear in the sea when ever they saw fit, as well the problem can be digested through food, liquid and washing, also of all the records I have searched, in none of the RAN records does it show where washdowns occured of men, unlike the RN where it was emphasised?????
Keep fighting mate
Kind Regards
Tas Browning
Devonport
Tasmania
Thank you to all who have contributed with comments . I attended Dave’s FOI Tribunal on behalf of the CVFI . The hearing on the 16th February revealed many valuable facts , particularly of the inner workings of the MoD ( i.e. the contractual link with the Atomic Weapons Establishment and other departments of Government ) in dealing with attempts by veterans to obtain information relevant and appropriate as eviidence for use at pension appeal tribunals etc .
Amongst other factors additional to the withholding of radaition levels and dose received by Dave at Christmas Island the following records relating to his case also apply :
1) His blood count after the weapons test is ‘lost’.
2) The results of a lymph node removed at a military hospital is also missing .
3) Other hospital records are also missing .
4) Dave , like every UK veteran who has applied , even when prepared to pay out of his own pocket, has been refused cytogenetic blood tests to detect genetic damage .
Dave’s conclusion is that a conspiracy of silence is being conducted by the MoD against all who participated in the UK nuclear tests including our Australian , New Zealand and other Commonwealth Allies .
To answer Tas’ questions . The UK MoD is a major irresponsible polluter of the environment . They kept detailed and meticulous records of all that happened during the nuclear weapons test experiments including the results of tiissue , bone and organs removed from veterans whilst alive and at postmortems on death but these are kept in a data base , admitted at the hearing as being “unnamed” and of ” very high security clearance” .
Whatever , the verdict of Dave’s FOIA Tribunal it has proved a very worthwhile exercise by revealing what the MoD do not wish to reveal .
Regards to all ,
Dennis Hayden
on behalf of the CVFI