Infected Blood Inquiry: Rishi Sunak to give evidence on compensation for victims

Rishi Sunak is likely to talk a lot about how the Covid
pandemic meant other aspects of government didn’t act as quickly as they
usually would.

He’ll be quizzed about decisions made during his time as
both prime minister and chancellor, and whether he could have ensured the
compensation process happened more quickly.

We may also hear a lot about the paymaster general. That’s a
minister in the cabinet office, who has overall responsibility for this
inquiry.

As we’ve reported, Penny Mordaunt, who used to do the job, and Jeremy Quin, who
does it now, have already given evidence this week.

But because of the wide-ranging nature of the scandal and
the large amounts of compensation likely to paid, decisions surrounding the
inquiry have to be taken by several departments, including the Treasury.

Mordaunt and Quin both accepted that campaigners and victims are frustrated at ongoing delays but stressed that they’ve seen no evidence of the government dragging its feet on the issue.