§ 2.32 p.m.
Baroness WARD of NORTH TYNE-SIDEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they propose to take action to deal with the legal problems of thalidomide children as outlined in the special article in the Sunday Times of 27th June.
§ The LORD CHANCELLOR (Lord Elwyn-Jones)My Lords, the legal problems of the thalidomide children arose from the difficulty of establishing a right to compensation in law for their injuries. These problems have happily been resolved by the settlement of their claims and the creation of a £20 million charitable trust for their benefit, and this was acknowledged in the Sunday Times article referred to. The Government have supported the Congenital Disabilities (Civil Liability) Bill, now awaiting Royal Assent, which will, for the future, clarify the law on liability for ante-natal injury. Wider questions as to the proper basis 1138 of civil liability and compensation for personal injury are under consideration by the Royal Commission under the chairmanship of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Pearson.
Baroness WARD of NORTH TYNESIDEMy Lords, I should like to thank the noble and learned Lord for that Answer. Is he aware that I asked this rather complicated Question in order to place on record the magnificent work done by the Sunday Times in the article in which they told the full story, and that action, as has already been acknowledged by the noble and learned Lord, be taken so that the future shall never hold the kind of situation which was so excellently portrayed in the Sunday Times? The noble and learned Lord will agree, I am sure, that the Sunday Times did an excellent thing in bringing to the notice of the nation as a whole—indeed, the nations of the world the problems which there arose. I am sure the noble and learned Lord will accept that everyone will be delighted to know that this terrible situation will never again occur in the future.
§ The LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, I appreciate the purposes which prompted the noble Baroness to put down the Question, and of course her observations. It is an excellent thing that finally, albeit, I am afraid, after a very long time, there has been a happy settlement to this tragic matter.