MP’s spoke out on behalf of thousands of the present and future victims of the asbestos related disease, pleural plaques, on 23 January 2008 in a House of Commons’ debate. The debate centred on the issue of compensation for pleural plaques, a disease caused by exposure to asbestos dust, which although symptomless causes the victim anxiety and distress because he/she knows they are at risk of developing other asbestos related conditions, such as disabling pleural thickening and asbestosis or terminal mesothelioma or lung cancer.

In October 2007 the House of Lords ruled pleural plaques could not be compensated in English Law, thereby elimating the practice for two decades of awarding compensation to these victims. Victims of this disease, asbestos support groups, lawyers and MPs have been lobbying since the controversial ruling to reverse this decision. The Scottish Parliament has decided to legislate to reverse the effect of the Law Lords’ decision, meaning Scottish victims would be able to claim compensation whereas other UK victims would not. 

The central issue in the debate was to reverse the House of Lords decision by legislation. Jim Sheridan MP stressed “legislation is needed to offer hope to the victims of the condition.” He emphasised that this disease affects ordinary working people who were negligently exposed to asbestos dust and through no fault of their own have to live with a “life sentence of breathlessness, pain and worry about the increased risk of developing mesothelioma, or indeed, asbestosis”. The debate highlighted an undesirable situation that would exist in the UK if Scottish law allowed compensation but English law didn’t. 

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Bridget Prentice, stated that it would not be appropriate to legislate to overturn the House of Lords’ decision. However, the door would not be closed on further discussions about this issue. She stated “I need to involve colleagues from other Departments that would be directly affected by any change in the law, if any were to be made. However, the Government's current view is that a change in the legislation is not appropriate; it would change the law of negligence so fundamentally that it would not be an appropriate process.”

On the issue of a different law for Scots and other UK victims she agreed “it would be unacceptable in such a situation for people in one part of the United Kingdom to receive compensation and others in another part not to do so. That would be inequitable.”
Please click on the link below to read the full House of Commons Debate.

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2008-01-23a.459.0&m=1473

Please click on the link below to read an article on the Rochdale Asbestos Victims and the contribution made to the Commons Debate by the Liberal Democrat MP, Paul Rowen. 

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/News/news.asp?ID=5636

People suffering with symptomless pleural plaques are encouraged, now more than ever, to contact their local MP’s and explain the devastating effect of the judgment.  Their local MP’s will be able to keep the pressure on the Government to take steps to provide redress to victims of this disease.

John Pickering and Partners LLP is a specialist legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.

If you need advice about an asbestos related illness, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.

Ruth Davies
Partner at John Pickering and Partners LLP
20 Clare Road
Halifax, HX1 2HX
Email: rd@johnpickering.co.uk
Tele: 01422 345535
Fax: 01422 438500