An MP is to lobby the Government for action after a decision to deny compensation to victims of an asbestos-related condition.

The decision was released shortly before MPs broke for a week before yesterday's Queen's speech, but Bradford North MP Terry Rooney will not let the timing - designed to reduce the profile of the controversial decision - prevent him taking up the issue with ministers.

He said: "I think this is the wrong decision and I will be following it up. I hope the Government will change its mind."

The controversy began last month when the Law Lords ruled that pleural plaques do not constitute a life-threatening condition, even though they can be accompanied by the development of serious respiratory diseases.

Following that ruling, MPs called for the Government to pass legislation which would eliminate that lack of legal protection, which effectively prevents the awarding of compensation. But the Government's decision stymied that effort.

The decision came from Justice Minister Bridget Prentice in response to Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP Jim Sheridan in a parliamentary answer, rather than telling MPs in the Commons amid growing concern over the Law Lords' ruling.

She said: "Having considered the judgement very carefully, the Government have decided that is would not be appropriate to legislate on the issue."

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

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