Asbestos-related illness fight 'will go on'

A politician has noted that his campaign to get compensation for those affected by the asbestos-related illness pleural plaques will go on.

Labour MP Dave Anderson said that the issue is not one that will go away, the Jarrow & Hebburn Gazette reports.

He has been fighting alongside Jarrow MP Stephen Hepburn as part of a year-long effort to restore the right of people with the condition - which is a form of scarring of the outer lining of the lungs - to receive money.

Making his comments following the formation of a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition, he said he will keep up the political pressure for reform.

Mr Anderson remarked: "Pleural plaques victims were criminally and negligently injured at work. Their employers knew what damage asbestos was doing to their workers and now they should be made to pay."

He went on to state that there is considerable support for the fight and those involved will not let it "go off the radar".