Family tragedies behind asbestos removal campaign
Raymond TurnbullA man who lost four family members to asbestos-related cancer has backed an MP's campaign to have the potentially deadly material removed from all public buildings.
South Shields Labour MP Emma Lewell used a Commons debate to press the government to create a register of UK buildings containing asbestos and plan for its removal.
Her grandad John Henry Richardson died in 1998 from asbestosis - a hardening of the lungs - after working in the area's shipyards, while her constituency has one of the country's highest death rates from contact with the material.
Raymond Turnbull, from Washington, supported Lewell's call with the plea: "We've got to really get it out there how dangerous it is."
Mr Turnbull has seen asbestos take a terrible toll on his family.
His mother died from mesothelioma in 1979, aged 72, and his brother and uncle also succumbed to the same cancer.
All three worked at the now closed Turner and Newall factory in Washington which made products containing asbestos.
HOCBut the biggest blow for Mr Turnbull was the loss of his wife, Jean, who died aged 62 in 2009.
"When she was young he used to play with other children on big white heaps near the factory," he said.
"They were huge, like the white heaps of Dover.
"There was a mass of asbestos all over, and not a single warning sign anywhere."
Turner and Newall went into administration in 2001 after being overwhelmed by compensation claims, but some payments have been made to former workers and local residents.
'Biggest work-related killer'
Research by Asbestos Information CIC, a group that represents industry experts, found 63 people in South Shields died with mesothelioma between 2018 and 2022, with Lewell's constituents eight times more likely to die of that specific cancer than in a road accident.
The high rates in the region have been linked to the use of asbestos in traditional industries, but Lewell is concerned more cases could be developing because of its continued presence in an estimated 1.5 million buildings across the UK.
"We know that it's in our public buildings, we know it's in some schools and hospitals, but we don't actually know which ones," she said.
"That's why we need a national register or census so we can get it out of those buildings.
"This is still the biggest work-related killer in the UK."
Across the country, asbestos exposure causes about 5,000 deaths each year.
Mr Turnbull, who now runs a support group for people with mesothelioma and their families, said it was vital asbestos was not just seen as a problem of the past.
"I think the idea of a register is brilliant. The cost would be phenomenal so I worry it will never happen," he said.
"But, if they made a start, at least that would be something. We've got to really get it out there how dangerous it is."
Asbestos Information CIC estimates the material could be present in more than 24,000 buildings in the South Shields constituency and Lewell wants any government census and removal programme to begin in the town because of its high death rates.
"I don't want to see anyone go through what my lovely grandad and our family went through," the MP said.
"To watch someone breathe their last breath simply because of the job they did is not right.
"We're seeing a prevalence of school teachers and people who worked in hospitals now becoming ill because of asbestos.
"The problem is this is not just going to be part of our history, but part of our future as well and it doesn't need to be."
In the Commons debate, Department for Work and Pensions minister Stephen Timms said there was already substantial information about the presence of asbestos in public buildings.
But he acknowledged more work was needed and praised Lewell and others calling for more action.
"My honourable friends are right to make the case for the goal of an asbestos-free Great Britain and to make the case for a plan for it to be removed across the country," he said.
"I look forward to further discussions with them and I agree there is a great deal we still need to do."