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Former UK minister alleges Ministry of Defence withheld nuclear test veterans' records

Tobias Ellwood claims he was misled by officials during his time in government, while the ministry maintains it has published its findings in full.

Updated Sep 3, 2026 · 08:18 UTC1 reports

The short version

  • Former UK veterans minister Tobias Ellwood alleged that the Ministry of Defence deliberately withheld medical records relating to Cold War nuclear test veterans.
  • Ellwood stated that briefings provided to him for parliamentary statements contained false information.
  • Veterans groups have long sought medical data, including blood and urine tests, to link participation in nuclear tests to severe health conditions.
  • The Ministry of Defence responded that it conducted an extensive review of historical records and published its findings in full.

Key facts

  • Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood stated to BBC Newsnight that the Ministry of Defence withheld medical information regarding nuclear test veterans and that some statements he delivered to Parliament based on departmental briefings were false.[BBC News]
  • Between 1952 and 1967, up to 25,000 UK military personnel, scientists, and civilians took part in nuclear testing programmes across Australia and Pacific Ocean islands.[BBC News]
  • Veterans have campaigned for the disclosure of historical blood and urine tests to substantiate claims that radiation exposure caused lifelong illnesses, including cancers, leukaemia, and generational birth defects.[BBC News]
  • The Ministry of Defence stated that it reviewed tens of thousands of documents as part of an extensive records discovery exercise and published the results across five reports.[BBC News]
  • The ministry attributed historical gaps and variations in medical documentation to Cold War secrecy and the lack of a centralised recordkeeping system.[BBC News]

What remains uncertain

  • It remains disputed whether the Ministry of Defence intentionally concealed medical test records to delay responses to veterans' claims or if missing data resulted from Cold War secrecy and decentralized recordkeeping.[BBC News]

Sources