Mesothelioma is a horrible, deadly disease. It can be caused by a single fibre and be killing someone for years before it is diagnosed. People often die within a couple of years of diagnosis, in great pain with all the trauma for their loved ones.    

      Because of that long time when you don't know you have it, you are unlikely--even if you could -- to make arrangements for your family. So many are left in near poverty as a result.

      Thanks to the support of the Trade Union movement, a test case was brought before the courts and it was decided that even if exposure to asbestos happened under a variety of employers, a person could sue each or all of his or her previous employers. This case, called Fairchild, meant that employers were jointly and severally liable even though the case itself did not resolve that problem--it was simply that was what happened in practice.

     Then in May 2006, the House of Lords, to our horror, overturned that decision (in a case known as Barker v Corus) and so every claimant had to find every employer and sue them individually.

     Some employers had gone by the wall. Anyway, it was very difficult to show at which employment the fibre had entered someone's lung. Compensation was now going to be really difficult to get. And families would already be under considerable pain and stress.

     Fortunately, in June, the Compensation Bill was going through Parliament. It was dealing with negligence and with claims farmers. I was the Minister taking the Bill through the House of Commons.

     Some of my colleagues--who had been campaigning on this issue for years--approached me and said we need to amend the Bill to overturn the Barker decision. But how could we do this? The Bill had already been through the Lords and it was near impossible to think of an amendment which did not go beyond what we needed for Mesothelioma sufferers. And the business managers and Cabinet members had agreed the Bill could go ahead on one basis. Now we wanted to change that, half way through. It didn't look promising.

     My colleagues who had been campaigning--the Trade Union Group of MPs and Mick Clapham MP in particular--sent a delegation to speak to the Prime Minister. Meantime, I spoke to Cabinet colleagues, explaining the only way things would ever be changed was if we did it. No Tory Government would ever have bothered.

     The PM led the cabinet in saying, yes; an amendment had to be made. This Labour Government was not going to stand by and see people suffer any more from this dreadful disease. And, yes, in some cases it will be the Government that will have to pay the compensation (for example in some cases involving the ship building industry) but it was the right thing to do.

     I was really proud to have been part of that. It was really good to know that in some small way you had done something that was just going to make some families lives a little better. I am really grateful to my colleagues in the GMB and the other unions for sticking with it and helping the Government get the amendment to the Compensation Act as it now is which will do just that.

     What I'm not happy about is the lawyers for Corus -- the company who got the original decision overturned -- are now trying to say that Mrs Barker doesn't fall within the group covered by the amendment. They know we intended she was covered and they are trying to wriggle out of their responsibilities. Be assured, we won't let them. They should accept that Parliament has made the decision to support sufferers of mesothelioma and pay up! We'll make sure they do.