The sad story of the fall of Cecil Parkinson has fascinated the nation … A Very British Sex Scandal: The Love Child & the Secretary, Brian Walden clip
Obviously a favourite of the prime minister’s. Everyone knew that. ibid. Matthew Parris
He had behaved incredibly badly. ibid. man
It is now widely accepted that the affair has tarnished the image of the Conservative Party. ibid. Brian Walden
It’s been called the worst treatment disaster in NHS history. From the 1970s to the early 90s, 30,000 people were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C. Panorama: Infected Blood: Time for Answers, BBC 2024
For nearly six years a public inquiry has been investigated why so many were infected. ibid.
To enable me to cope with the stresses and the nightmares from the atom bombs I witnessed, I have devised ways and means of keeping myself busy. Britain’s Nuclear Bomb Scandal: Our Story, comment, BBC 2024
I’m part of something that should never have happened. ibid.
The longest-running scandal in British history. There is nothing bigger or worse than what’s happened to the nuclear victims. ibid.
You could see the evil in it. It was like looking at the devil. ibid.
Between 1952 and 1963 Britain embarks on a series of nuclear tests in Australia and the South Pacific. The operation involves around 39,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen and scientists. Collectively, the men experience 45 atomic and hydrogen bombs and hundreds of radioactive experiments. ibid. captions
You feel it go through your body. You’re like a light-bulb. ibid. comment
Nobody told us anything. We were just left to get on with life. ibid.
The hydrogen bomb is now as necessary as the atomic bomb was before it. ibid.
They [children] were playing in the sand dunes that day. ibid. Australian indigenous relative of survivor
A 1980 report suggested that up to 50 Aboriginal people died as a direct result of the black mist. Without official records that number cannot be substantiated. ibid. caption
Of the 300 or so men who were on HMS Diana, about half of those who are found to have died since, died from tumours of some sort. ibid. comment
Between 1953 and 1963, 205 men were ordered to fly through mushroom clouds. ibid.
The neglect of safety at Christmas Island was appalling. ibid.
Those at the top were not too worried about the human cost. ibid.
We knew enough to know that this is dangerous. ibid.
The ionising radiation is with you for the rest of your days. ibid.
Very little was shared even with the Australian government. ibid.
Maralinga: Roughly 22 kg of Plutonium-239 was left lying around the site. And that’s easily enough to kill everyone on the planet. ibid.
The question is simple: What killed the babies? ibid.
We have now three or four generations being born with problems. ibid.
It’s like these invisible bullets that keep being fired. ibid.