PM says ‘day of shame’ as he apologises to blood scandal victims

by | May 20, 2024 | Health

It’s clear the inquiry chair, Sir Brian Langstaff, has had a legal career – and not one
in the diplomatic service.He has denounced successive governments for “institutional
defensiveness” over the scandal, which he said had been damaging to the public
interest.This contributed to hiding the truth for decades, he
suggested.It was “indefensible” for ministers to repeat the line
that victims had received the best possible care at the time.This afternoon, Rishi Sunak apologised for the actions of
governments over the decades.And Sir Keir Starmer said “sorry” too – as previous Labour
administrations had resisted a full public inquiry.But Langstaff didn’t just conduct an historic inquiry. His report touches a political raw nerve now.He said the current government had given the appearance of “working at a sluggish pace” on compensation, And that a lack of redress had perpetuated the injustice
which the surviving victims had suffered.The government has made interim payments – and the prime minister has made clear that details of a “comprehensive” compensation scheme will be announced tomorrow.But Langstaff simply doesn’t buy the government line that
the scheme could not get under way until his full report was delivered.

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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnIt’s clear the inquiry chair, Sir Brian Langstaff, has had a legal career – and not one
in the diplomatic service.He has denounced successive governments for “institutional
defensiveness” over the scandal, which he said had been damaging to the public
interest.This contributed to hiding the truth for decades, he
suggested.It was “indefensible” for ministers to repeat the line
that victims had received the best possible care at the time.This afternoon, Rishi Sunak apologised for the actions of
governments over the decades.And Sir Keir Starmer said “sorry” too – as previous Labour
administrations had resisted a full public inquiry.But Langstaff didn’t just conduct an historic inquiry. His report touches a political raw nerve now.He said the current government had given the appearance of “working at a sluggish pace” on compensation, And that a lack of redress had perpetuated the injustice
which the surviving victims had suffered.The government has made interim payments – and the prime minister has made clear that details of a “comprehensive” compensation scheme will be announced tomorrow.But Langstaff simply doesn’t buy the government line that
the scheme could not get under way until his full report was delivered.nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
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