Infected blood scandal – latest: Rishi Sunak calls report ‘day of shame’ and vows to give victims compensation

Former health secretary Sir Sajid Javid said the infected blood scandal is “the biggest in the history of the NHS” and accused public servants of “putting the reputation of themselves, and the NHS above that of patient safety and care”.

He added: “Time and time again ministers have stood at that despatch box, under successive governments including myself, promising that lessons will be learned. So can I ask (Rishi Sunak) why will it be any different this time?”

He referenced inquiries into other major scandals including the Shrewsbury maternity scandal.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government must “fundamentally rebalance the system” to finally address the failures which happened and are “so familiar from other inquiry by Hillsborough when innocent victims have to fight for decades”.

Sir Keir Starmer said: “The institutional defensiveness identified by Sir Brian is a pattern of behavior that we must reverse.”

There was a “subtle, pervasive and chilling” cover-up of the infected blood scandal, according to the final report from the long-running inquiry.

Tens of thousands of people in the UK were infected with deadly viruses after they were given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s.

The final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published on Monday, found there has been “deliberate destruction” of relevant documents and “elements of downright deception” from those in positions of trust and power.

In his apology the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak admitted,“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.”

He said: “Layer and layer upon hurt, endured across decades, this is an apology from the state to every single person impacted by the scandal.”

The results of the infected blood inquiry should “shake our nation to its core”, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said opening his apology made in the House of Commons on Monday.

He continued: “At every level, the institutions and people in which we put our trust have failed in the most devastating way.”

Sir Keir Starmer has apologised to victims of the infected blood scandal for the injustice they have faced on an “unprecedented” scale.

Addressing the victims when speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, he said: “Politics itself failed you – that failure applies to all parties including my own. There is only one word: ‘Sorry’.”

Rishi Sunak has vowed victims of the infected blood scandal will receive compensation.

The prime minster pledged: “Whatever it costs to deliver this scheme, we will pay it.”

Around £10 billion has been earmarked for a compensation package for those affected, which is set to be announced on Tuesday.

The prime minister has “wholeheartedly and unequivocally apologised to the victims of the infected blood scandal.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Rishi Sunak said: “Today I want to speak directly to the victims and their families, some of whom are with us in the gallery – I want to make a wholehearted and unequivocal apology for this terrible injustice.”

Rishi Sunak has called the damning revelations of the inquiry into the infected blood scandal “a day of shame for the British state”.

Addressing the House of Commons on Monday in the wake of the publishing of the inquiry’s findings, the prime minister said: “This is a day of shame for the British state. Today’s reprot shows decades-long national failure at the heart of our national life.”

Rishi Sunak is set to give a statement in parliament over the infected blood scandal.

The prime minister is expected to apologise as he addresses the House of Commons at 5pm today, said the chair of the damning inquiry, Sir Brian Langstaff.