Infected Blood Open Letter

Dame Diana Johnson MP & Sir Peter Bottomley MP

Co-chairs, APPG on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0AA

 

Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP

Chancellor of the Exchequer

1 Horse Guards Road

Westminster

London

SW1A 2HQ

 

Sent by email Thursday 29^th February

 

Dear Chancellor,

 

Ahead of next week’s Budget, we are writing to seek assurance that you are planning to announce the allocation of sufficient funds to deliver full compensation to victims of the infected blood scandal, in line with the recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry.

 

As you know, Sir Brian Langstaff, Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published his final recommendations on compensation on 5 April 2023. The report made 18 detailed recommendations on who should receive compensation and how it should be delivered. In particular, Sir Brian stated that interim compensation payments should be extended to bereaved parents and children. 

 

You will recall that in July 2022 you signed a letter with Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP and Rt Hon Andy Burnham calling on the Government to make the initial tranche of interim payments. You said at the time, “We should do it right away. We’ve waited far too long. Successive governments, which I was part of one, didn’t act as quickly as they should have and we need to recognise this as a terrible, terrible injustice.”[1] We agree – and we hope that you will now apply the same sense of urgency to children who lost parents, and parents who lost children.

 

Furthermore, the Commons voted in December 2023 to move forward with full compensation for those infected and affected by the contaminated blood scandal by establishing an Arms Length Body, as recommended by Sir Brian. We now understand that the Government plan to respect the vote by Members from both sides of the House and are taking steps in the Lords to make sure the Victims and Prisoners Bill covers the whole of the United Kingdom. 

 

Given that Government have had the recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry on compensation for over 10 months, we understand that preparations for its delivery should be at an advanced stage. We therefore look forward to you announcing on 6 March the allocation of funds to fully compensate victims of the infected blood scandal – the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. 

 

We also ask you to provide reassurance in advance of the Budget to all those infected and affected by this appalling scandal that your Statement will explicitly address the contaminated blood scandal and enable the urgent delivery of compensation.

 

Yours sincerely, 

 

Dame Diana Johnson MP                           Sir Peter Bottomley MP 

 

Co-chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood

 

[1] Ex-health secretaries call for immediate payouts to UK blood scandal victims | Contaminated blood scandal | The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/30/infected-blood-uk-government-urged-to-compensate-victims-immediately

 

Supported by:

 

 

Diane Abbott MP

Debbie Abrahams MP

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP

Paula Barker MP

Rt Hon Dame Margaret Beckett MP

Clive Betts

Paul Blomfield MP

Steven Bonnar MP

Rt Hon Sir Ben Bradshaw MP

Deidre Brock MP

Alan Brown MP

Rt Hon Nick Brown MP

Rt Hon Robert Buckland KC MP

Richard Burgon MP

Dawn Butler MP

Ian Byrne MP

Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP

Dan Carden MP

Sarah Champion MP

Douglas Chapman MP

Joanna Cherry KC MP

Rt Hon Greg Clark MP

Daisy Cooper MP

Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP

Neil Coyle MP

Stella Creasy MP

Tracey Crouch MP

Judith Cummins MP

Rt Hon Sir David Davis MP

Marsha De Cordova MP

Jonathan Djanogly MP

Allan Dorans MP

Peter Dowd MP

Rosie Duffield MP

Dame Angela Eagle MP

Colum Eastwood MP

Sarah Edwards MP

Clive Efford MP

Julie Elliott MP

Tim Farron MP

Stephen Farry MP

Marion Fellows MP

Yvonne Fovargue CBE MP

Mary Kelly Foy MP

Barry Gardiner MP

Patricia Gibson MP

Paul Girvan MP

Peter Grant MP

Fabian Hamilton MP

Paulette Hamilton MP

Claire Hanna MP

Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP

Carolyn Harris MP

Rt Hon Sir Oliver Heald MP

Sir Mark Hendrick MP

Dame Meg Hillier MP

Wera Hobhouse MP

Dame Margaret Hodge MP

Sharon Hodgson MP

Kate Hollern MP

Adam Holloway MP

Rachel Hopkins MP

Rt Hon Sir George Howarth MP

Dr Rupa Huq MP

Christine Jardine MP

Dame Andrea Jenkyns MP

Kim Johnson MP

Ben Lake MP

Ian Lavery MP

Emma Lewell-Buck MP

Clive Lewis MP

Rebecca Long Bailey MP

Tim Loughton MP

Caroline Lucas MP

Kenny MacAskill MP

Angus MacNeil MP

Rachael Maskell MP

Jason McCartney MP

Dame Siobhain McDonagh MP

Andy McDonald MP

Stewart McDonald MP

Rt Hon John McDonnell MP

Anne McLaughlin MP

Grahame Morris MP

Anne Marie Morris MP

Charlotte Nichols MP

Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP

Kate Osamor MP

Kate Osborne MP

Kirsten Oswald MP

Sarah Owen MP

Jess Phillips MP

Dr Dan Poulter MP

Yasmin Qureshi MP

Christina Rees MP

Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP

Marie Rimmer MP

Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP

Jim Shannon MP

Andy Slaughter MP

Cat Smith MP

Rt Hon Chloe Smith MP

Alex Sobel MP

Rt Hon John Spellar MP

Chris Stephens MP

Graham Stringer MP

Zarah Sultana MP

Alison Thewliss MP

Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP

Derek Twigg MP

Rt Hon Valerie Vaz MP

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