‘I Am Truly Sorry’: Rishi Sunak Offers ‘Unequivocal Apology’ For Infected Blood Scandal Cover-Up

Rishi Sunak declared Monday a “day of shame for the British state” as he apologised for the failures of successive governments over the infected blood scandal and promised to pay whatever it takes to compensate the victims. The prime minister issued his apology in a packed House of Commons chamber, hours after Brian Langstaff published his report that accused the British government of covering up the disaster.

The scandal revolves around the infection of over 30,000 individuals with life-threatening viruses, including HIV and Hepatitis C, while under the care of the NHS between the 1970s and 1990s.

Addressing the House of Commons following the publication of the inquiry, Sunak said on Monday: “I want to make a whole-hearted and unequivocal apology for this terrible injustice.” He also promised to pay “comprehensive compensation” to those infected and those affected by the scandal, Xinhua news agency reported. “Whatever it costs to deliver this scheme, we will pay it,” he said, adding that details will be set out on Tuesday.

“This is an apology from the state – to every single person impacted by this scandal. It did not have to be this way; it should never have been this way. And on behalf of this and every government stretching back to the 1970s, I am truly sorry.”

About UK blood scandal

Earlier on Monday, a damning 2,527-page inquiry concluded that the contaminated blood scandal in the UK which has caused more than 3,000 deaths, “could largely, though not entirely, have been avoided.”

The report said that “a catalogue of failures” by successive governments and doctors caused the “calamity,” in which tens of thousands of patients with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders were infected with HIV and hepatitis viruses after receiving infected blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s.

“It may also be surprising that the questions why so many deaths and infections occurred have not had answers before now,” the report added.

The scandal has been called “the worst treatment disaster” in the history of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).

The report also revealed that there has been “a hiding of much of the truth” by the government and the NHS “to save face and to save expense”.