Corby families win birth defect legal battle

The story of the Corby families with children born with birth defects is quite remarkable. It staggers me that the local authority still continues to deny any link between their land reclamation operations and the defects, instead still insisting that all eighteen cases are coincidental. Nature just isn’t that cruel.

Corby Borough Council no doubt had the best of intentions when it rushed to reclaim land for investment following the collapse of the enormous steelworks, on which the town’s economy depended, but this is clearly a case of sheer and inexcusable negligence.

The families have made it clear that it’s not about the money, since no amount of money can compensate for being born with deformed limbs, and it’s this that pisses me off about it most: Corby Borough Council were on the news today whinging about how much of their budget has been sucked up in legal fees with this case (some £5m out of an annual £12m) and how it’s going to impact their council tax payers, etc. when all they needed to do in the first place was to admit that they cocked up, thus avoiding the legal battle in the first place. They could have gone straight to compensation settlements and saved everyone a big shitload of cash.

It’s all about not losing face, at whatever cost, and it’s frankly pathetic. I wish every one of those eighteen families the best of luck with whatever happens from now.