Ministry challenges ruling on atom test veterans

More than 1,000 ex-services personnel, now mostly in their 70s, are seeking hundreds of millions of pounds in damages from the Ministry of Defence (MoD), claiming radiation exposure during the tests in the Pacific and mainland Australia in the 1950s has blighted their lives.

Last June, High Court judge Mr Justice Foskett ruled that 10 test cases out of 1,011 claims could proceed to full trial and said the veterans were entitled to their "day in court".

The servicemen blame their ill-health, including cancer, skin defects and fertility problems, on involvement in Britain's 1950s nuclear tests on the Australian mainland, Monte Bello islands and Christmas Island between 1952 and 1958. Many are terminally ill and seven – including five of the test case claimants – have died since the litigation began.

The MoD, while acknowledging the "debt of gratitude" owed, denies negligence and have argued the cases were launched outside the legal time limit.

Charles Gibson QC, for the MoD, said yesterday it was "wholly irrelevant" to argue the veterans should "have their day in court" and it would be "a slap in the face" if some had their compensation claims blocked.

Emphasising such claims normally have to be brought within three years, he said that to allow all the 1,000 cases to proceed to trial would "drive a coach and horses" through the law, and warned of the escalating costs, with the veterans' legal bills already more than 11m.

The ex-servicemen, their widows and families, many of whom were attending the hearing, have fought a marathon legal campaign to prove unsuspecting veterans were made ill, often fatally, by radioactive fallout exposure following the tests.

Mr Gibson said Mr Justice Foskett should have looked more carefully at each of the 10 "lead" cases to see if there was any real evidence their "constantly changing"complaints could be attributed to nuclear fallout.

The case continues next week.