Report to the People
22nd October 2007
Close Asbestos Loophole
I
have lost count of the number of times I’ve recounted the insurance
industry’s latest dodge to try and deny asbestos victims the compensation to
which they’re entitled. And,
while I have also reported the Scottish Parliament’s successes in changing the
law and closing the legal loopholes, the companies and their lawyers won’t
admit defeat.
As
you will have read in your Telegraph last
week, the Law Lords have upheld a claim by insurance giant Norwich Union (they
won’t be “quoting me happy” from now on) and others that pleural plaques
is not an injury for which victims can be compensated.
As
many of you know from firsthand experience, pleural plaques is a scarring of the
lung caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibres. Many
cases progress to Mesothelioma, the aggressive and fatal cancer of the lining of
the lung.
Norwich
Union’s victory overturns 30 years’ worth of legal precedent and leaves
former shipyard workers in places like Greenock unable to claim for the damage
their former employers inflicted on their health.
As
I mentioned above, though, the Scottish Parliament has a good track record of
changing the law to close these unjust loopholes and it has to step into action
again.
It
would only take a short Government Bill to make the law specifically recognise
pleural plaques and ensure the innocent victims get the justice they’re being
denied. MSPs from all parties must
now come together and press the Justice Secretary to introduce such a Bill
without delay.
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