Contaminated blood scandal inquiry announced

Prime Minister Theresa May has today announced the establishment of an inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal, which led to patients contracting hepatitis C and HIV. The inquiry announcement follows the publication of a letter by the Westminster leaders of six opposition parties, in which they called for the Prime Minister to launch an investigation into alleged criminal conduct linked to the scandal.
The announcement came prior to an emergency debate in the House of Commons, led by Diana Johnson MP, Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood. The inquiry will establish the causes of the scandal, with the victims’ families to be consulted about what form the inquiry should take, with options including a public ‘Hillsborough-style’ inquiry or a judge-led statutory inquiry.
Further details are due to be announced by the Health Minister Philip Dunne later today.