Pleural plaque payout pressure grows

7:28am Friday 4th July 2008

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Ministers are set to come under pressure to act to compensate sufferers of pleural plaque – thanks to pressure from a Bradford MP.

Labour’s national policy forum, made up of MPs, MEPs and other elected people, will say the Government must act on last year’s decision by the Law Lords which means sufferers are no longer entitled to compensation.

Bradford North MP Terry Rooney, right, has been lobbying ministers in Westminster over the decision which meant insurance firms – facing a potential £1bn payout – were not liable because pleural plaques had no symptoms and was, therefore, not a disease. In fact, the condition - a scarring of the lungs - means its victims are five times more likely to develop mesothelioma, a severe respiratory disease.

Mr Rooney said: “This will be on the agenda. I have been lobbying for it and I expect it will move forward quite soon.”

More than 350 people in the Bradford district died from asbestos-related cancer bet-ween 1981 and 2000, and the number diagnosed with the disease is expected to rise annually until 2015.