The Post Office - Horizon - Fujitsu scandal has thrown up many troubling issues; the disparity in power between big organisations and government, and the individual citizen; failures in the oversight of corporations and institutions by government; the pursuit of profit at any cost; the lack of accountability both in government and companies; but above all how long it takes to put right an obvious wrong. There is a narrative developing that the Government has acted quickly to address this scandal. This is patently not the case. The Government has only reacted because of the very significant public anger. There is another scandal, as bad as (maybe worse than) the Post Office debacle, that shares many similar features to this gross miscarriage of justice. It is the ‘Contaminated Blood Scandal’. In the 1970s and 1980s thousands of people, usually sufferers from haemophilia (a disease affecting blood clotting), were infected with Hepatitis C and HIV by contaminated blood products. It is known that at least 3,600 people were affected. It is thought that in excess of 10,000 may have been. Over 900 of those infected with HIV have died, some 700 of those infected with Hepatitis C; 1,600 innocent victims dead! And for those infected survivors a life blighted by illness. This is not a recently discovered problem. The TV programme ‘World in Action’ sounded warning bells in 1975. In the early 2000s there was a campaign for a public inquiry. That public inquiry was finally established in 2017. Its final report should be published in March. Despite the Inquiry recommending in April 2023 that a full compensation scheme be established, proper compensation for victims is still being argued over. Indeed, as recently as December 2023 this Conservative Government opposed steps to establish such a compensation scheme. Over 40 years to get justice for innocent victims. In that time many have died. This is not how justice should work. Let us hope it does not take another TV drama to get action. Urgent action is now needed to deliver justice for the victims, before there are no victims left alive to whom to deliver justice. Mark Wooding Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Central Devon
View of a Post Office exterior (RICHARD LEE PHOTOGRAPHY)
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