But, in a Commons motion, Mr Meacher insisted Dr Busby's research echoed other studies of cancer clusters dating back to 1983. A 1984 advisory group recommendation for centralised monitoring of health data to give "early warning" had never been adopted, Mr Meacher said. Furthermore, the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) had "no power of independent investigation and did not find the excess leukaemia and cancer on the Menai Strait". The same was true of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) which, Mr Meacher said, should also be axed. Mr Meacher is a lifelong member of Friends of the Earth and a fierce opponent of nuclear power. In government, he fought to block the building of more nuclear power stations. Mr Meacher said COMARE acknowledged there were cancer clusters but refused to accept the explanation "staring it in the face" - that they were caused by nuclear reprocessing. British Nuclear Fuels spokesman Mark Longbottom said: "Our stance has always been the same as far as Dr Busby's claims are concerned which we view as being part of a long line of attempts by Green Audit to attack the nuclear industry." Meanwhile Dr John Steward, director of the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit in Cardiff, said the unit's findings had not found anything supporting Dr Busby's claims. "Nothing unusual has been found and there is nothing for the public to worry about," he said. | 
