Battle goes on for asbestos payouts

Justice Secretary Jack Straw was criticised by a union leader after announcing he would not change a Law Lords ruling that prevents sufferers of pleural plaques – a scarring of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos – claiming compensation.

But he gave some good news as he announced an estimated 6,000 workers who had already started a legal claim for compensation will be given a 5,000 payment.

And he revealed the Government wants a massive push on research into asbestos-related disease, with Barnsley West and Penistone MP Michael Clapham and Sheffield-based surgeon John Edwards to be involved in a Department of Health review.

The Government will help fund a National Centre for Asbestos Related Disease, establishing a register for workers exposed to asbestos, speed up compensation claims and increase up front payments for victims of mesothelioma, and Mr Clapham has pledged to campaign for it to be based in Sheffield.

Sufferers from the condition were denied compensation following a House of Lords ruling in 2007, and the Government has been consulting on whether to overturn the ruling.

Mr Straw said that on the basis of medical evidence received during the consultation, the Government was unable to conclude that the Law Lords' decision should be changed or that an open-ended compensation scheme should be set up.