Critics accused the Labour Party of placing excessive focus on the Brexit issue instead of prioritizing compensating the victims of the severe mistreatment scandal within the NHS.
Campaigners for people infected with contaminated blood vented their fury at the ‘glacial’ pace of compensation for victims and their families.
Concerns were raised that this shift in focus could be attributed to the primary attention of the responsible minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, being directed towards negotiating a new post-Brexit agreement with Brussels.
Recent reports by The Mail on Sunday disclosed that the negotiations, spearheaded by a team of 100 civil servants under the supervision of Cabinet Office minister Mr Thomas-Symonds, have been criticized as an attempt to compromise on Brexit, potentially reversing the outcome of the 2016 referendum.
Andy Evans, chairman of the Tainted Blood group which campaigns on behalf of victims of the scandal, suggested the minister’s dual responsibilities could explain why compensation was taking so long.
Mr Evans said: ‘People are still dying at the rate of two per week as result of their infections and it’s estimated that by March, another 80 infected persons will die before they get any compensation.
‘Despite promises of all this happening as soon as possible, the process since the election has been glacial.
‘If Mr Thomas-Symonds had this as his overriding responsibility – and not also having to sort out a new deal with Brussels – surely people and families affected would get their just compensation much faster.’
Labour was last night accused of focusing too much on ‘selling out’ on Brexit and not enough on compensating victims of the infected blood scandal. Pictured: Campaigners demonstrating outside the Houses of Parliament earlier this year
Paymaster General Nick Thomas-Symonds, pictured with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in October, has been accused of concentrating too much on his other key role – negotiating a new post-Brexit deal with Brussels
Tory MP and leading Brexiteer Mark Francois called on the minister to ‘concentrate less on running the EU Surrender Unit and more on paying out’ the compensation.
Mr Francois, who is chairman of the Tories’ European Research Group (ERG), said: ‘I was in the Commons several months ago when Nick Thomas-Symonds faithfully promised to speed up compensation payments.
‘I and many other MPs took him at his word.
‘However, I have two constituents directly affected by this issue, and who are increasingly frustrated by the endless bureaucratic delays in actually receiving payouts.
‘I suspect they, like me, would prefer the Minister to concentrate less on running the so-called ‘EU Surrender Unit’ and more on paying out that which exhaustive public inquiries have established they are now entitled to.’
Thousands of people became infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s, with more than 3,000 known to have died.
In May, the final report of a five-year inquiry into the scandal said that the health service and successive governments of all colours took part in a ‘chilling’ cover-up and ‘closed ranks’ to hide the truth.
In response to that report, an £11.8billion scheme was set up this year to compensate victims and their families.
More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C at the hands of the NHS in the 1970s and 1980s
Mr Thomas-Symonds, who is both Paymaster General and Cabinet Office Minister with responsibility for the Constitution and EU Relations, said compensation payments are beginning to be made to victims and their families
Government sources yesterday defended Labour’s response since taking office in July, pointing out that the compensation scheme was established ‘in law’ in August – just weeks after the election.
They also pointed out that the Budget in October allocated £11.8bn compensation and that all recommendations from the Infected Blood inquiry – including the setting up of an arms-length compensation body – had been accepted in full or in principle.
Mr Thomas-Symonds, who is both Paymaster General and Cabinet Office Minister with responsibility for the Constitution and EU Relations, said: ‘The Prime Minister and I have always been determined to deliver justice for the victims of the Infected Blood Scandal after decades of injustice, and are going further than any other Government has before.
‘In the first few weeks of the new Government, we set up the arms-length Infected Blood Compensation Authority.
‘The Budget allocated £11.8 billion for the victims, and final payments have already started to be made.
‘There has been over £1 billion in interim payments paid to those infected and to estates of those infected who have died.
‘We will continue doing everything we can to deliver justice for victims as swiftly as possible.’
The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (ICBA) said that as well as making compensation offers to 10 people, the scheme had now been opened up to a further 24 people.
An £11.8billion scheme was set up this year to compensate victims and their families
By the end of March next year, it was hoped that offers would have been made to around 250 people, with numbers increasing after that.
David Foley, the authority’s interim chief executive, said: ‘The infected blood community has been denied answers, justice and support for too long, and now is the time for transparency and action.
‘The IBCA was set up in May 2024 and the first set of regulations allowing us to make payments were laid in August 2024.
‘Since then, we have been building a claims service so we can make payments as soon as possible.
‘We have now made the first compensation offers to 10 people with a total value of more than £13 million.’
Mr Foley added: ‘Every single compensation claim is unique with complex circumstances.
‘That is why we have started with a small number of people making the first compensation claims, building and improving the claim service as we go.’
