Children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster will no longer be able to travel to Scotland for recuperative holidays under government plans to charge for visas, campaigners have claimed.
Charities across Scotland that have funded visits for children from Belarus and Ukraine since the late 1980s say that the introduction of an £86 charge per visa will mean a reduction in the number of youngsters making the trip.
The Labour MP for West Lothian, Graeme Morrice, has tabled a motion in House of Commons opposing the Foreign and Commonwealth Office decision to introduce the visa charges in March. He has also launched an e-petition urging the government to reverse the policy.
