Fight to step up asbestos payouts

By Gail Robinson

CAMPAIGNERS from across the region are preparing to descend on the Houses of Parliament later this month to protest at a judgment which will deny thousands of workers suffering an asbestos-related condition the right to claim compensation.

The Law Lords ruled last October that pleural plaques, a scarring of the lungs which can be a forerunner of deadly asbestosis and mesothelioma, is not a disease in itself, and therefore suffers could not get compensation.

But campaigners believe the judgment ignores the anxiety and fear caused by the condition.

On January 29, representatives including trade unions, health groups, and law firms specialising in industrial disease litigation are heading to London to lobby the Government to overturn the decision.

Michael Clapham, MP for Barnsley West and Penistone, is at the forefront of a growing parliamentary campaign calling on the Government to introduce legislation to overturn th
e controversial legal decision. Mr Clapham told The Star: “It was a diabolical decision. Once you have got pleural plaques, the risks of developing mesothelioma or asbestosis is high.”

Carol Gill, of Barnsley-based Raleys Solicitors, is a specialist in asbestos-related disease cases and a trustee of SARAG, the Sheffield and Rotherham Asbestos Group.

Carol said: “I am just one among the hundreds of people we hope will attend this protest, and hopefully cause the Government to overturn this appalling decision.

“A diagnosis of pleural plaques means an individual does have an increased risk of developing another asbestos related disease.

“The insurance industry will save in the region of £1.4 million because of this decision. We firmly believe that, without pressure from those who are affected by this decision, there will be no prospect of a return of the right to compensation.”

Source: http://www.thestar.co.uk/barnsley/Fight-to-step-up-asbestos.3679928.jp