EVENING CHRONICLE CAMPAIGN ON PLEURAL PLAQUES

Early day motion 651, tabled 2 February 2009 by Stephen Hepburn (Labour). Signed by 53 members.

That this House warmly endorses the campaign by the respected Newcastle Evening Chronicle to urge the Government to end the compensation scandal which left a forgotten generation facing a bleak future following the House of Lords ruling which overturned a decades-old right for working folk to be compensated for industrial diseases; notes that this has left hundreds of desperately ill former workers suffering from the debilitating lung condition pleural plaques who are now not entitled to a penny in redress; further endorses the view of Ian McFall, head of asbestos policy at Thompsons Solicitors, that thousands of people in the North East negligently exposed to asbestos, have suffered harm and deserve to have their concerns recognised; joins with the Chronicle in calling on the Government to overturn the ruling and give sufferers of the asbestos-linked condition the help they deserve; urges support for the Chronicle's campaign calling for the right to compensation to be restored; and urges the Government to conclude its consultation process on this matter speedily.

Signatures by party: Labour 38, Liberal Democrat 10, Independent 2, Conservative 1, Plaid Cymru 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.