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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. Clapham), who follows this issue assiduously—as he does all issues relating to health and safety—and has done for many years, throughout his time in the House. A small number of my constituents with pleural plaques have written to me, so I am aware of the issue from a constituency point of view. I intend largely to quote the Court of Appeal and House of Lords judgments and what was said by some Scottish judges and, more importantly, to consider what the clinicians are saying about pleural plaques. The House of Lords judgment of 17 October stated that it was not necessary to pay out for pleural plaques because they are symptomless, as the hon. Gentleman said, do not increase susceptibility or lead to other asbestos-related diseases, and do not impact on health, the ability to work and quality of life. That judgment was based on an earlier Court of Appeal judgment, which went to the House of Lords. Paragraph (d) of section 10 of that judgment said:"““The presence of pleural plaques does not normally occasion any symptoms””—" a slight difference of wording. The judgment continued:"““Very occasionally, in fewer than 1 per cent. of cases, the patient may be aware of an uncomfortable grating sensation on respiration””." I would separate sufferers of pleural plaques who experience an uncomfortable sensation when they breathe from other sufferers and believe that they should be eligible for compensation, albeit far less than what is provided for in part 4, which deals with mesothelioma, a wholly different condition, as was made clear earlier.