Tobias Ellwood Demands Compensation for Nuclear Test Veterans

Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood has called for a national apology and a compensation scheme for British nuclear test veterans. Ellwood admitted he inadvertently misled Parliament in 2018 regarding the existence of radiological blood samples taken from personnel during nuclear tests conducted between 1952 and 1967.

Over 20,000 personnel participated in radiation experiments and tests in the Australian desert and on Christmas Island. While the Ministry of Defence previously claimed it could not locate information on blood monitoring, a July 2024 government discovery exercise revealed that medical examinations or blood testing were required for most, if not all, personnel during that period.

Ellwood highlighted a systemic failure to provide veterans access to the Merlin database, a collection of 28,000 documents held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment. He argued that withholding this medical data delayed cancer diagnoses and demanded an independent tribunal to establish the truth. He compared the situation to the infected blood and Windrush scandals.