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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

I intend to make only a brief contribution, as my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. Clapham) has covered most of the main points. It has to be said, however, that this is a very emotive subject, particularly in the place where I come from—the shipyards on the Clyde. When I worked there, I could see asbestos dust in the air and I remember the foreman telling me not to worry as it would not affect us and we would be okay. I am not suggesting for a moment that the foremen were to blame, as they were doing what they were told in telling people to work under those conditions. I do blame the companies who produced this stuff and asked people to work with it. It is indeed a very emotive subject. I can understand where the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) is coming from in that we do not have the statistics we need. However, I can provide some practical stats relating to the friends, the families and the colleagues I worked beside. When they are told that they have pleural plaques, many know exactly what the next step will be. They do not need a clinician to tell them that they are safe. They know exactly what the ultimate decision will be. I, for one, have attended too many funerals of people who were told that they had pleural plaques, only to acquire full-blown mesothelioma. I am not talking only about people in the shipyards of the Clyde, as it applies to people in shipyards throughout the whole UK, including Merseyside and elsewhere. I can provide the practical evidence, as I said, but I disagree with the Law Lords when they decided that those who polluted with asbestos—namely, the companies— were not responsible for people developing either pleural plaques or full-blown mesothelioma. Who was responsible then? It was the irresponsible doctors who told the sufferers that they had the disease; it was their fault for telling people that they had pleural plaques, as that is what caused their anxiety. How ridiculous is that—blaming the doctors for telling people that they are unwell? That is absolutely incredible. Certainly the people I represent, my friends and my family find it incredible: they simply cannot understand it. When farmers and their cattle are affected by foot and mouth or blue tongue, hon. Members fall over themselves in the House to provide compensation to farmers for their dead animals. Yet when human beings contract this killing disease, the same attention is not given to them. That is my point to the Minister. People—not many in the Chamber, but our people—are watching the debate. The Government may be going through a difficult period now, but this is the sort of issue that our people want our Government to sort out. They want compensation for being exposed to the damage that others have not been subjected to. I would dearly love to spread some asbestos dust on the porridge of the Law Lords, so that they can gain an understanding of what exactly this disease does to people. I am sorry if I sound emotive, but I am angry at the Law Lords for taking this decision and I am even angrier that my Government—my Labour Government—are not taking the steps that I believe they should to overturn it. I return to what I said earlier about the SNP Administration in Scotland. I wish them every success in bringing forward this legislation. I am sure that the victims and their families will wish them well. My only concern relates to the advice given by the two Ministers in the Ministry of Justice. If they are right and the Law Lords' decision applies throughout the UK, I sincerely hope that people are not playing politics with this. If they can overturn it—on behalf of friends and families of the victims, I sincerely hope that they can—I would hope that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary could make some sort of compromise in the Bill to ensure that if it is successful in Scotland, it should be successful in the rest of the UK. This is still a disease irrespective of whether people live in Newcastle, Glasgow, Cardiff or Belfast; it does not matter, it is a disease that kills people. I sincerely hope that the Minister takes on board exactly what has been said today and particularly the strength of feeling expressed on the Labour Benches about how this disease can affect people. I sincerely hope for that compromise whereby the rest of the UK can benefit from any compensation agreed by the Scottish Parliament.