Labour MP Claims Ministerial "Churn" Has Hindered Justice For Infected Blood Victims

Labour MP Diana Johnson has said political instability in recent years has been an obstacle to victims of the contaminated blood scandal achieving justice and receiving compensation.

The Infected Blood Inquiry was set up under former prime minister Theresa May in 2017 and will be published on Monday.

The case is widely considered to be the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the National Health Service, with more than 30,000 people developing blood infections after being given contaminated products.

Johnson, MP for Kingston upon Hull North and Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, alongside the Sunday Times have campaigned for justice for the victims for decades. Since the inquiry was launched seven years ago, Johnson has claimed ministerial change triggered by chaos in Westminster has been a barrier to seeking justice.

There have been three different Conservative governments since the last general election, led by Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, and since 2017 there have been nine paymaster generals who have overseen or been involved in the inquiry.

“We've had so much churn in terms of ministers in the Cabinet Office. That's been really problematic,” Johnson told PoliticsHome.

They include Mel Stride, Jesse Norman, Oliver Dowden, Penny Mordaunt, Michael Ellis, Edward Argar, Chris Philip, Jeremy Quin. The current Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office is John Glen, who was reshuffled to the new position in November. 

Johnson said Glen was a “decent man”. However, she said victims of the scandal had found it difficult to engage and trust politicians after the trauma they had suffered. “He’s… had meetings in the last few weeks. And I think they welcome that. But this group of people have