Andy Burnham has called for Britain to hold a fresh debate on worldwide nuclear disarmament in the wake of Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine.
It comes as the US rejects Volodymyr Zelensky's call for a no-fly zone, as well as a suggestion of giving Polish fighter jets to tackle Russian bombing raids, for fear it would escalate the conflict.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester’s words marked a split with the official Labour line of support for the UK’s nuclear deterrent of Trident missiles, kept continuously at sea in Vanguard submarines.
And he linked the current conflict to the Mirror’s ‘Look Me In The Eye’ campaign, to get PM Boris Johnson to sit down with survivors of Britain’s Cold War radiation experiments.
“We all need to dig in for the long haul behind Ukraine and its people. But we also need to start thinking beyond this. Ukraine should mark a watershed moment,” he said in the Evening Standard, criticising one tabloid newspaper for claiming nuclear weapons had only been used twice since the Second World War, when Britain alone has fired 45.
"More than 20,000 British servicemen were exposed to harmful radiation without prior knowledge, consent or protective equipment,” he said. “They have all been left in a wilderness. Never mind a national apology, public inquiry or compensation — they have never even had a medal.”
Veterans report high rates of cancers, miscarriage, and suicides, and an official study last week found they were more likely to die than other servicemen. They are routinely denied war pensions.
"The fact that a national newspaper doesn’t know this reflects the huge secrecy about Britain’s nuclear programme that persists to this day," said Mr Burnham.
He said it was "humbling" to be at a gathering of nuclear test veterans recently. He added: "There was one painfully unforgettable moment. When asked whether any had had cancer, all seven hands were raised. When asked whether any had lost a child to miscarriage or early death, six hands went up. These men were Britain’s nuclear guinea pigs, knowingly put in harm’s way by their government. "
Mr Burnham went on: “It is time for the country to face up to our nuclear past, be honest about the health harms and make amends. But perhaps we should also empower our young to debate our nuclear future. They can see how the world they live in is not safer for the presence of so many nuclear weapons. Maybe this moment will bring a concerted global drive to disarm? We live in hope.”
He also took a swipe at Jeremy Corbyn, who beat him to the Labour leadership in 2015 in a victory that led to Burnham moving back north to become mayor.
"I wouldn’t have seen how it was even possible that my own party could get itself in a position where it stood to be found guilty of breaking the law after being accused of anti-Semitism," he said.
"And I didn’t think I would ever see a nuclear power, in my lifetime, directly threatening the use of nuclear weapons having invaded another country on the European continent."
