National Asbestos Taskforce letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham
- Airtight on Asbestos
- Aug 3
- 2 min read
On 28th July 2026, the National Asbestos Taskforce wrote to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, urging him to take action to prevent further deaths from asbestos.
You can find the full letter below:
Dear Prime Minister,
RE: Urgent action on asbestos
On behalf of the National Asbestos Taskforce, may I congratulate you on becoming Prime Minister. We wish you every success in addressing the many challenges facing the country.
Asbestos is the UK’s number one occupational killer. Unfortunately, as a nation we have the highest asbestos-related death rates in the world, as well as some of the worst health and safety practices. Your predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, stated that asbestos is an "awful, awful killer" and that government must do "whatever we need to do to reduce that risk". Unfortunately, his government, like those before, did nothing.
Make no mistake: this is another national scandal, to be added to Hillsborough, Grenfell, the contaminated blood and postmaster scandals. The taskforce was established to campaign for the removal of asbestos from UK buildings by implementing the recommendations of the Work and Pensions Committee in 2022.
When your office passes this letter on to the HSE, you and we will get a reply that suggests (1) asbestos is safer in-situ if managed correctly, and (2) deaths are a legacy of our industrial past. Neither of these statements are true.
The HSE will tell you that there are roughly 5,000 asbestos-related deaths per year. Their own research evidence suggests that deaths may be as high as 20,000 per year. Over a five-year period, that would be equivalent to the population of Makerfield.
Increasing numbers of young people and women are dying from ‘environmental exposure’ in schools, hospitals and in the home. It is a big problem which successive governments have chosen to kick down the road and onto the fly-tip of problems for future generations to deal with. At some point, all asbestos will need to be removed. In the meantime, many thousands will die.
We implore you and your government to do something about this. Beginning with radical reform of the HSE and implementation of the Work and Pensions committee’s recommendations.
We would be pleased to provide more information and meet with your officials to discuss further.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Morrin, ResPublica – Secretariat for the National Asbestos Taskforce
Chris Emmett, Chair of the National Asbestos Taskforce
Sarah Lyons, National Education Union (NEU)
Professor Daniel Murphy, PREDICT-Meso Mesothelioma research consortium
Derek Maylor, Chair of Merseyside Asbestos Victims Support Group
Jamie McGovern, Communication Workers Union
Charles Pickles, Founder of Airtight on Asbestos
John Richards, Asbestos Information CIC
Richard Blunt, Campaigner
Saranjit Kaur, Campaigner
Dr. Gill Reed, Researcher
Steve Sadley, ARCA
Liz Darlison, CEO of Mesothelioma UK
On behalf of the National Asbestos Taskforce
Comments