On Wednesday, Haemophilia Scotland participated in a mass lobby at Westminster, urging the UK Government to act now on a compensation scheme for those infected and affected by contaminated blood. The event drew a significant turnout of people from across the UK and from different campaign groups to all work together to raise awareness about the continuing delays by the UK Government.
Dame Diana Johnson MP and Sir Peter Bottomley MP, Co-Chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood, were joined by a strong contingent of MPs from various parties throughout the day. They engaged with their constituents and showed their support for pressing the Government to do more sooner.
Before attending the lobby, Dame Diana Johnson questioned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during Prime Minister’s Questions about the Government’s failure to implement any of Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations from his second interim report, published 11 months ago. Mr Sunak once again acknowledged the moral case for compensation and said the Government were committed to proposing an amendment to the Victims and Prisoner Bill, with the intention of speeding up the implementation of their response to the Inquiry’s final report in May.
The Victims and Prisoners Bill now includes a section to set up a compensation scheme for those infected and affected by contaminated blood within three months of the Bill becoming law. The clause (Section 40) was discussed during a legislative debate on the Bill in the House of Lords earlier this week, where it was first announced that the Government is planning to introduce their own amendment at the next stage of the process which they say will resolve the technical difficulties in setting up the scheme itself and to ensure that the scheme covers the whole of the UK.
Following PMQs, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer arrived at Westminster Hall and answered several questions from those in attendance, including would a future Labour government pay compensation if the current government failed to do so. Sir Keir replied by stating “yes” but said he hoped that the matter would be resolved before then.
Throughout the day, Haemophilia Scotland spoke with numerous Scottish MPs, who all expressed their support and readiness to seek justice for their constituents impacted by the scandal. We extend our thanks to our members who proactively contacted their MPs beforehand, urging their attendance at the lobby to demonstrate solidarity and support.