The Shields Gazette was one of a number of papers to highlight the inequalities of treating asbestos related diseases in England and Scotland.
On 20th December it wrote that South Tyneside peer Lord Don Dixon quoted the Gazette in a House of Lords debate about a compensation battle by asbestos victims.
Lord Dixon's comments came after the paper reported that the Scottish Parliament is bidding to introduce legislation to again give pleural plaque victims compensation. (In a controversial landmark ruling WestminsterLaw Lords rejected an appeal by the UK's biggest trade union Unite, against an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal in January last year.The decision removes a right to compensation for pleural plaques, stretching back 20 years.
It now appears that the Scottish Parliament will legislate to redress the situation, whilst the English Parliament will not.
In a yet another manifestation of the West Lothian question, English workers who contracted the condition whilst working in Scotland will not have a right to claim compensation, whereas Scottish workers who were employed in England will.
South Tyneside has the highest proportion at risk of future hospital admission from chronic pulmonary disease, amounting to 62 per cent above the national average.
http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/Plaques-compo-battle-goes-to.3609249.jp
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