Bare slams government pleural plaques failure

Date: 2010-02-26

Leeds 26 February 2010 - The lawyer who led the advice to a government consultation on asbestos diseases today condemned government's announcement that sufferers in England and Wales will not have access to compensation.

Martin Bare, who led advice on the Mesothelioma Court Fast Track procedures nationwide, today said "We will be sure to watch the government's next steps closely, to be ever vigilant against signs of any trade-off between the position of pleural plaques victims and the cost to insurers of any Employment Liability Insurers Bureau."

Bare, a former President of a major lawyers' group, had been heavily involved in the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008, and the Compensation Act 2006, said while he applauded Jack Straw's proposals on the ELIB and Employers Liability Tracing Office (ELTO), he was "very disappointed that the government has confirmed everyone's worst fears that they aren't going to do anything about restoring the rights of pleural plaques victims to compensation. In Scotland the right of pleural plaques victims to compensation has been restored by the braver Scottish government. While insurers have tried to challenge the Scottish government, the financially motivated challenge to that positive change has been rejected by the courts in Scotland. This leaves pleural plaques victims in England and Wales as poorer relations to their Scottish cousins under the law."

Bare is a Partner at Morrish Solicitors, a leading injury claims law firm with a specialism in asbestos diseases.

Jamie Hanley, who is standing for election in Pudsey, said "When you sit at the bedside of an asbestos victim, you realise how devastating this substance is - tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of working men and women went to work and were exposed to asbestos which continues to cause life threatening and, in the most tragic cases, life ending diseases."

Ends.

Notes for editors:

Yorkshire Evening Post: Payout for Victims of Lung Condition Rejected
Yorkshire Post article: Appeal Court reverses ruling over asbestos
Jack Straw's announcement: http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/announcement250210a.htm

For further information, please contact Vanessa Charters at Morrish Solicitors on 0759 5564764.