The Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK, along with internationally recognised medical professionals, will meet with Cape to discuss our demand that Cape pay £10 million to medical research. As a goodwill gesture we have postponed our planned protests outside Cape’s Warrington and Rotherham offices on 19th April 2023, pending the outcome of the meeting.
A press release (for immediate release) is available here: Forum Press Release 15th March 2023
Mesothelioma is a fatal lung cancer caused almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos. Though asbestos was banned in the UK in 1999, there were still 2,544 deaths from mesothelioma in 2020, as it typically takes decades from exposure for disease to develop.
Cape were one of the leading manufacturers of asbestos products in the UK from the 1950s to the 1980s. A 2019 legal case unearthed documents proving that, from the 1960s, Cape deliberately withheld evidence on the risks its asbestos products posed to human life. Following the 2019 legal victory, we have campaigned for Cape to donate £10 million to mesothelioma research, in reparations for what they have done.
Nevyn Stevenson of AVSGF commented: “Cape profited from the sale of its asbestos products, despite knowing the dangers their products caused. Many died as a result. It is only right that they put right some of the wrong they have done.”
Research into finding a cure and life-extending treatments for mesothelioma has been severely underfunded. A donation of £10 million would certainly help rectify this.
The Cape Must Pay! Campaign has gained cross party support from MPs, the backing of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health, and the TUC.
You can tweet about the campaign using #capemustpay