Rishi Sunak faced heckling and mockery from members of the public on Wednesday as he defended the government’s handling of the contaminated blood scandal.
The prime minister faced groans and laughter from members of the audience as he was questioned at a public inquiry over delays in setting up a compensation scheme for victims.
Mr Sunak told the Infected Blood Inquiry that he would pay compensation to victims of the “appalling” scandal “as swiftly as possible”.
But he was pushed over compensation delays for those affected in the context of his previous roles of chancellor and as chief secretary to the Treasury.
Thousands of people died and others continue to suffer after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.
The scandal is widely recognised as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the National Health Service.
Victims and their families have criticised the speed of the government’s response and delays in compensation payments.
Mr Sunak used his appearance at the inquiry to defend the decision to wait for the Inquiry’s final report before confirming a full compensation plan for victims.
But his evidence to the Infected Blood Inquiry was met with laughter from some of those listening.
“The Government is conducting an extensive amount of cross-government work to analyse all the various questions and recommendations posed in the interim reports so that Government is in a position to act as quickly as possible after receiving the final report, and that work continues at pace,” he said.
As he spoke, laughter could be heard coming from people watching in the room.
When asked why not no information about what a “concrete compensation framework” had been produced by the government, Mr Sunak said:
“I think what I’d say is, of course, people want to see… What I’d say is, in order for the Government to make decisions on compensation, it rightly has asked an independent inquiry to conclude its work to provide the advice to Government and recommendations about what to do.”
The audience groaned as Mr Sunak gave his answer. Over four thousand people had been paid interim compensation payments already, he said.
Mr Sunak also told the inquiry: “This appalling scandal has gone on for decades. People have been let down for decades by successive governments.”
“I think over a succession of not just years but decades justice has been denied to people. They haven’t received the recognition that they need and deserve.”
Sir Brian Langstaff, chair of the inquiry, told those watching Rishi Sunak giving evidence that there was a tradition of “respecting the witness”.
“Can I just remind everyone, I know the evidence is emotive to many of you but we do have a tradition of respecting a witness to make it easier for them to say what they want to say, please,” he said.
