Compensation chaos looms

The government is about to plunge the law on compensation into chaos as it has caved into the emotional demands for more efficient compensation of mesothelioma sufferers, regardless of the wider implications

The government's decision to add a new clause to the Compensation Bill is a knee-jerk reaction to a House of Lords decision (Barker v Corus) that will do far more long-term harm than it will short-term good. While obviously unfair this rests on the foolish notion that insurance companies have bottomless pockets.

Singling out one occupational disease lacks any sense of natural justice. There are many industrial diseases that leave people in pain and blight but the law should not make one of them a