The plight of those suffering from asbestos related diseases is going from bad to worse (see previous Catalysts). First, Turner & Newall (T&N), once one of the biggest global asbestos companies, went into voluntary liquidation to avoid paying out compensation to asbestos victims. Then Kroll, the firm administrating T&N, started charging over £460 per hour for their services (so far their bills is £23 million). Meanwhile, the US administrators have been charging $75 million a year.

Whilst this legalised robbery has been going on, the asbestos victims have got nothing. Last November, a protest took place outside the Manchester offices of Kroll, who were asked to make a donation to the victims out of their fat profits. After a long wait the Northern Victims Support Group (NVSG) received a letter saying they were not prepared to make a donation. Currently, 4,000 people per year are dying from asbestos-related diseases and this is set to rise to 10,000 a year. The longer the crooks keep creaming off the cash and delaying compensation, the more innocent victims die never having seen justice – for the living, the fight for compensation is urgent.

The Northern Victims Support Group can be contacted on 0161 953 4027