Martyn Day MP says “enough is enough on dither and delay for infected blood victims”

TheoInfected Blood scandal took place before devolution, while healthcare in Scotland was still the responsibility of the UKG; and Westminster still holds the financial powers to deliver compensation to the victims and their families.

The infected blood inquiry officially got under way on July 2, 2018. Tragically, thousands of people have died as a result of treatment using contaminated blood and blood products, with hundreds dying since the Inquiry started. The Inquiry ended more than a year ago - on February 3, 2023 - and the chair of the Inquiry, Sir Brian Langstaff, published his 2nd Interim Report - about compensation - on April 5 2023. Its principal recommendation was “that a compensation scheme should be set up now and it should begin work this year". The UK Government has accepted the “moral case” for compensation and claims to be working “at pace” on the issue. However, there was no mention in the Spring Budget of monies being allocated for compensation. Martyn Day, MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk, has repeatedly raised this matter in the intervening years, and on 19 March 2024 he presented a public petition on behalf of his constituents saying: “Infected blood seems to me to be the biggest single scandal in our lifetime… Just how long will the victims and their families have to wait?”

He added: “Too many delays and denials have impacted victims and their families.

“I have previously asked the Cabinet Office Minister if the UK Government would expedite any recommendation that is made on interim payments to mitigate further hardship to the victims.

Martyn Day MP.

“Over the years, I have been both appalled and moved at the personal testimony I have heard from my constituents about their 40 years of struggle, and the realisation that this scandal could have affected any one of us.

“This is the dither and delay we have now come to expect from this Tory government. As many have attested: Enough is enough!”