The Times (London)
MONDAY JANUARY 15 2001
Depleted Uranium: Ministry ignored testimony of allies

Despite mounting pressure from servicemen, and evidence about soldiers reporting sick from other allies in the Kosovo conflicts, until last Thursday the Ministry of Defence had refused to conduct tests on British servicemen.

January 4: MoD rejects claims of risk, despite tests being conducted in Italy.

January 5: France to test soldiers for uranium link. MoD does not join in calls for investigation because it says it has not had any Bosnian and Kosovo veterans alleging ill health due to service in the region.

January 6: British troops said to be living in fear of Balkans cancer. MoD still refuses to test. Veterans say Iraqi prisoners of war are treated better.

January 9: MoD says the Army and Royal Navy do hold stocks of depleted uranium shells for use by Challenger tanks and Navy's Type 42 destroyers. One aircraft carrier is equipped with the Phalanx Gatling gun, which fired depleted uranium shells.

Senior MOD officials insist the Government still does not accept there is any connection between the use of DU weapons and either the so-called Balkans syndrome or the earlier Gulf War syndrome.

January 10: MoD makes its first U-turn when it announces that voluntary tests will conducted — but not until Spring.

In a statement, the MoD says: "We are clear about the potential hazards of DU and believe that although it was possible that small quantities of DU dust may have been inhaled or ingested by those taking part in the Gulf conflict, we believe the health risks, both radiological and toxic, to have been small."

January 11: MoD says that no uranium tests will be conducted for at least a year.

January 12: Geoff Hoon, Defence Secretary, says: "What we are saying is that the risks are very small, and that they have not led in any case that we have so far been able to establish by the best scientific advice to any illness for any soldier."