Sea justice

So having put their lives on the line at work, the least thousands of men around the Humber deserved when their livelihoods were taken away from them as the industry collapsed after the Cod Wars was some compensation – yet their fight for justice has been long and difficult.

Those who hoped the Government's agreement to pay compensation a decade ago would be the end of the ordeal were left sorely disappointed.

Initially, Ministers had to be pressed to extend the scheme to include hundreds of men who had continued fishing outside the Icelandic waters after 1979.

Then it took pressure by campaigners, politicians and a report by the Parliamentary Ombudsman before the Government finally agreed in 2008 to close a loophole that unfairly penalised men who had breaks in their service records.

Yet only today is it revealed that even at that point, the payments risked being put on hold – potentially for several years – because Whitehall bureaucrats said new legislation would be needed.

Step forward Lord Mandelson to declare it "unacceptable" to put off payments for that long and to overrule the objections, allowing the first cheques to be sent out last year.

He may be a divisive figure, but it is difficult not to admire the sharp political instincts and decisive action which convinced Gordon Brown to bring him back into the Cabinet. On this occasion, he saw the injustice inflicted on hard-working men and ensured that common sense prevailed.

Today, many men will be grateful for his swift intervention and his willingness to cut through the red tape where others might have prevaricated or shied away.