MESOTHELIOMA - COMPENSATION FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES

That this House is aware that mesothelioma is a particularly aggressive form of terminal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos; recalls that in 2014 the Government established a scheme to pay lump sum payments to civilians who had contracted the illness but were unable to trace a liable employer or insurance provider, and that under its terms sufferers stand to receive significant sums in compensation; notes in contrast that members of the armed forces contracting the illness are today likely to receive considerably less because of the anomaly that they can neither sue their employer nor get redress for any illness sustained before 1987; and calls on the Government to take action to cease forthwith such an unfair approach, which flies in the face of the Armed Forces Covenant.