Published: Thursday, 28th August, 2008 11:55
Dead MP was suing government over asbestos
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John MacDougall
AN ASBESTOS support group hopes the tragic death of former Rosyth Dockyard worker and MP John MacDougall will force a change of heart from the UK Government on compensation awards.
Labour MP Mr MacDougall (60) was suing his own Government over his terminal lung cancer at the time of his death.
He believed the cause of the incurable mesothelioma was exposure to asbestos when he was working at the dockyard in the 1960s.
His friend, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, paid tribute to Mr MacDougall at the funeral and described his illness as a “cruel legacy”.
Defence secretary Des Browne and a predecessor in that role, John Reid, were also present.
However, it has now emerged that Mr MacDougall launched a court action against the Ministry of Defence in November after the Government turned down his request for £300,000 in compensation.
And whereas the Scottish Government is bringing forward legislation to help workers suffering from asbestos-related conditions, the same is not true at Westminster, where Mr MacDougall served for seven years.
The campaign group Clydeside Action on Asbestos will give evidence at the Scottish Parliament next week in a bid to make it easier for victims to claim.
The group covers the whole of Scotland and has helped many former Rosyth workers over the years.
Secretary Harry McCluskey, who himself has asbestosis, said, “A lot of people who worked at Rosyth have contacted us.
"It’s not only people from the Fife area but people who travelled to work at Rosyth from all over and also contractors who were there for a time.
“At yards across Scotland, these people were exposed negligently to asbestos but what we’ve seen time after time is that insurance companies have held up the process.
“When people fall ill we’ve found they are often still determined to get recognition of the cause before they die.
“Many times, like with John MacDougall, people have died without that happening which is tragic and means they can die without any financial worries regarding their family being settled.”
Former Labour MEP and trade union leader at Rosyth Dockyard Alex Falconer worked as a lagger there in the late 1960s and has pleural plaques, a scarring of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos.
He said, “The man I took over from as shop steward had asbestosis.
"By the time I was there, people were still going down and working with the stuff and it didn’t matter how good the mask was, at some point you had to take it off.
“We were working then to bring it restrictions and we had extractors installed to take out the dust.
“It’s fair to say all governments could do more in cases like these but the real villains of the piece are the insurance companies and the law lords.
“It’s the insurance companies who fight these cases and the law lords who bring in abysmal rulings.
“One was that you had to prove where the fibre came from which is a practical impossibility.
“Another aspect of this is that asbestosis and mesothelioma are classed as ‘incurable’ cancers but I would like to know how much money raised for research goes into finding a cure in this area.
“That’s something that the trade unions should be looking at because there are cancers that have been incurable in the past but can now be treated.”
Dunfermline man Tom Minogue worked at Rosyth when Mr MacDougall started as an apprentice.
Mr Minogue (63), who also has pleural plaques, said, “I knew John when he was serving his time at Rosyth and we later were shop stewards together at Methil.
“At Rosyth he was an apprentice caulker to a friend of mine, Tony Queen, and he later died of the same thing.
“I’ve known many people who have died over the years, some in their forties.
“It can take something like a bout of pneumonia to trigger off the disease and turn the pleural plaques into asbestosis .
“In the 1960s we knew nothing of the dangers of asbestos. It was widely used for lagging on pipework and other applications. It was used in a flooring composite for example.
“The laggers would have a carry-on and thrown the asbestos about like snowballs.
“It was into the 1970s before the rumours started about its dangers and then there was a famous documentary that told the story.
“It’s sad that a Labour MP has to sue his own Government. I knew another man who died from Rosyth and in his case any settlement was delayed because a lawyer lost all the paperwork.”
Rosyth SNP councillor Douglas Chapman said, “It’s a very sad situation all around and it must have galling for John MacDougall to sit on the same benches as those denying him compensation.
“There will be many other people without the same connections who have faced the same problems from their time at Rosyth.”
In June, the Government at Holyrood unveiled a new bill aimed at entitling anyone in Scotland to raise an action if they contract pleural plaques.
The move would overturn a House of Lords ruling last year that workers were not entitled to compensation because the condition itself is not a disease.
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