Justice for asbestos victims

Yet another victory for victims of asbestos exposure was secured at the Scottish Parliament in this last week.

A bill was passed that will now allow those with asbestos-related conditions like pleural plaques to pursue damages, overturning a House of Lords decision that ruled they couldn’t.

Those rights to compensation that were temporarily denied are now restored and the Parliament, with cross-party support, has come down once again on the side of the victims of asbestos-related diseases, which include many people from Inverclyde.

The blight of asbestos is something I have been involved with throughout my time as an MSP, indeed I hosted the first member’s debate on the issue back in 2000.

So I make no apologies for highlighting the Scottish Parliament’s record of support for this issue.

We have consistently highlighted the insurance industry's delaying tactics and its attempts to spin out cases to avoid or reduce liability.

We have exposed the use of the blanket denials that, for example, forced victims to prove common knowledge facts such as that the QE2 was built at the John Brown yard at Clydebank.

And this latest bill marks another milestone in that proud record.

But we would never have had the opportunity to put this right without external influences, such as the trade unions, pressure groups such as Clydeside Action on Asbestos and lawyers like Frank McGuire, of Thompsons.

The real credit though goes to the victims themselves, who in spite of terminal illness have been fighting these companies literally to their last breath.

During my speech in the chamber, I paid tribute to factory worker Owen Lilly, whose moving account in a television programme brought the plight of victims to a wider audience, and Scott Lithgow shop steward, Joe Baird, who both lost their lives to this awful disease.

This week’s victory belongs to them.