NEW COMMITTEE ON RADIATION EFFECTS

Early day motion 1464, tabled 24 January 2006 by Michael Meacher (Labour). Signed by 49 members.

That this House notes that the National Public Health Service Wales and the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) have accepted a report from the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU) denying the reality of a serious excess of childhood cancer and leukaemia around the Menai Strait in North Wales; further notes that a countervailing report has been published on the web site of the Low Level Radiation Campaign and by the journal European Biology and Bioelectromagnetics; further notes that WCISU stands accused of recklessly using false data for populations in the study area with the effect of minimising the risks apparent in the cancer cases observed despite having been warned of an exactly similar error in 2001; is concerned that COMARE's endorsement of WCISU calls its epidemiological expertise into question; and calls on the Government to replace COMARE with a Committee on the Health Effects of Ionising Radiation with a neutral chair, a full-time civil service secretariat, a budget sufficient to permit independent research, and a membership paid for their work on the Committee and which represents all shades of relevant scientific opinion.

Signatures by party: Labour 25, Liberal Democrat 18, Plaid Cymru 2, DUP 1, Respect 1, Scottish National Party 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.