GOVERNMENT FURTHER DELAY ON PLEURAL PLAQUES ANNOUNCEMENT
July 22, 2009 9:30 AM
Local MP Julia Goldsworthy has criticised the government after an overdue announcement on compensation for pleural plaques sufferers was again delayed.
Many former factory and dock workers in Cornwall have been diagnosed with the condition - a scarring of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos. The Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, was expected to announce whether it would reverse a 2007 Law Lords' judgment that prevents people with pleural plaques from taking legal action to claim compensation from their employers.
The government had said that they intended to announce their decision before the summer recess, which began today. Now a statement will not be made until at least October, a year since the government consultation on the issue ended.
Sufferers have repeatedly been told that a decision was forthcoming, but in spite of officials' statements that an announcement was imminent it has still not been made public.
Commenting, Julia Goldsworthy said:
"This is an absolutely terrible situation - it is not right for the government to drag their feet like this so that victims of pleural plaques have to go on waiting indefinitely for a decision to be announced.
"The government should have made public their decision last year so to miss another deadline is completely unacceptable and makes a mockery of the whole process. This is about justice for those affected - the government must allow people suffering with pleural plaques to be fully compensated."
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