Personal injury lawyers acting for victims of Gulf War illnesses have called on the government to set up a public review of the situation and make ex gratia payments to veterans after they concluded that there was not enough evidence to proceed in court.

North London firm Hodge Jones & Allen (HJA), which is acting for 600 veterans, decided it could not justify asking for legal aid to be continued after seeking counsel's opinion on issues of causation and negligence on the part of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Senior partner Patrick Allen said it was to be regretted that insufficient evidence had come out after six years of complex investigations.

'We acknowledge that many veterans are genuinely ill following their service in the Gulf and that they are getting a poor deal from the government,' he added.

'This is why we have called on [it] to carry out a public review and top up the modest war pension scheme.'

An MoD spokeswoman said the government was committed to helping Gulf War veterans, but added that the prime minister had considered a public inquiry and concluded that it was not the way forward.

'Even though there is no recognised medical diagnosis [in relation to the syndrome], that does not stop people from getting a war pension,' she added.

A Legal Services Commission spokesman said it aimed to reach a decision on funding by the end of the month.

Paula Rohan