A debate was held in the Commons Chamber this afternoon about the Infected Blood Inquiry and the progress made by the UK Government on the matter of compensation.
Dame Diana Johnson MP and Sir Peter Bottomley MP, co-Chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood, opened the proceedings by highlighting the lack of progress made by the Government and called on them to act now on the recommendations made by Sir Brian Langstaff in his second interim report.
Members of Parliament from all parties added to the debate sharing stories from their constituents of the damage the contaminated blood scandal has had on their lives and the need for the Government to act now.
Despite questions being asked directly of the Paymaster General on specific elements of the Government’s progress, the Paymaster General, Jeremy Quin, responded that the Government welcomed Sir Brian’s second interim report but as yet no final decision on compensation had been reached on the “form and extent” of the scheme. Mr Quin reiterated that the Government agreed that there is a moral case for compensation but the complexity of the issue continues to be discussed both internally and with the devolved government officials.
Mr Quin did not respond to any direct questions asked from MPs about the replacement to Sue Gray as Chair of the cross-government working group that was tasking with progressing the work, if he had received a request for further evidence from the Inquiry or if he was aware of other Ministers that had received a similar request.
Dame Diana Johnson closed the debate by expressing her disappointment of the lack of progress and stated “Action is needed now.”
The full transcript from the debate is available on the link below: