Families of infected blood scandal victims call for changes to compensation scheme
Families of more than 300 victims of the infected blood scandal are calling on the government to make changes to the compensation scheme, claiming they are being “excluded” from the current guidelines.
Thousands became infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s, with more than 3,000 known to have died so far.
After a public inquiry into the scandal concluded last year, the government announced the creation of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA), an arm’s length body that would manage the payments to victims and their families.
However, speaking to Sky News a member of the Tainted Blood – Siblings and Children group says their concerns about the proposed scheme have not been addressed.
As it currently stands, there are three ways in which the sibling of a victim would be eligible for payment: If, while under the age of 18, they lived in the same household as an infected person for a period of at least two years after the onset of the infection, if they acted as their carer, or if they are entitled to the proceeds from property owned by their infected relative.
Mark Newton (right) was Richard’s elder brother
These proposals are why people like Richard Newton, who lost his brother Mark to HIV in 1989 feel anger. He says he has written to the IBCA on multiple occasions.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “We’re being given the silent treatment by the government. We’re being swept under the rug and not listened to.”
Richard was just 11 when Mark died from infected blood products.
He said: “Everything in my life changed, I was severely bullied at school because kids thought I had the lurgy and my parents couldn’t cope. I wasn’t getting any help.”
The following year, Richard was sectioned under the Mental Health Act at 12.
Now, as an adult, Mark is still affected by childhood trauma more than 30 years on.
He added: “I learned in therapy that I had trust issues, I had trauma bond issues, I had co-dependency issues, I’d been trying my whole life to find a brother.
“The effect on my family and I is catastrophic beyond my comprehension.”
In response to the current state of the scheme, Richard said: “I have absolutely no idea where that information comes from. Does my brother stop becoming my brother in under two years? Does my brother stop becoming my brother because he had a different infection to somebody else?”
Des Collins, senior partner at Collins Solicitors, who represented over 1,500 victims has also expressed concerns about the current scheme.
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“What should happen is that someone should sit down and look very carefully at the regulations which are going to come out,” he said.
“We’re told, in the early part of next year, [to] see to what extent they can be adjusted to give more prominence to the position in which Richard finds himself. Now, whether that is going to happen or not, we just don’t know.”
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In response, a government spokesperson said: “No amount of compensation can fully address the suffering as a result of this scandal, but we are doing everything possible to deliver life-changing sums to people infected and affected.
“While we can’t comment on individual cases, the compensation scheme does make provisions for siblings in a range of circumstances to apply.
“The compensation scheme, which is established in law, is based on recommendations from the Infected Blood Inquiry, Sir Robert Francis KC, and a group of healthcare and legal experts.”
Birmingham band UB40 say the city’s striking bin workers and their union should “keep fighting” in their dispute over pay.
It comes as the government and the council urged them to accept a “fair and reasonable offer”.
“We’re fully on their side,” drummer Jimmy Brown told Sky News. “I think they shouldn’t give up, they should still be fighting.
“Working people shouldn’t have to take a reduction in their incomes, which is what we’re talking about here.
“We’re talking about people being paid less and it seems to me with prices going up, heating, buying food, inflation and rents going up then people need a decent wage to have a half decent life… keep going boys!”
Members of the Unite union in Birmingham earlier this month. Pic: PA
Workers joined picket lines again on Thursday, with some fearing they could be up to £600 a month worse off if they accept the terms.
“We have total utter support for the bin men and all trade unions,” said guitarist Robin Campbell.
“The other side is always going to say they’ve made a reasonable offer – the point is they’re the ones who’ve messed up, they’re the ones who’ve gone bankrupt, they’re the ones now trying to reduce the bin men’s wages.”
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Lead singer Matt Doyle told Sky News: “It’s a shame that what we’re seeing is all the images of rats and rubbish building up, that is going to happen inevitably, but we’ve just got to keep fighting through that.”
About 22,000 tonnes of rubbish accumulated on the city’s streets after a major incident was declared last month by Birmingham City Council.
Rubbish has blighted the city’s streets for weeks . Pic: PA
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Bin situation ‘pains me’ – council boss
On a visit to the city, local government minister Jim McMahon said the union and local authority should continue to meet in “good faith” and the government felt there was a deal that could be “marshalled around”.
He paid tribute to the “hundreds of workers” who have worked “around the clock” to clear the rubbish.
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“As we stand here today, 85% of that accumulated waste has been cleared and the council have a plan in place now to make sure it doesn’t accumulate going forward,” said Mr McMahon.
Sky News understands talks are not set to resume until next week.
Trans women in British Transport Police custody will now be strip searched by male officers – not female – following Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling.
The force said it is introducing an “interim position” while it digests the Supreme Court’s decision that the definition of a “woman” under the Equality Act 2010 refers to “a biological woman and biological sex”.
A British Transport Police (BTP) Authority spokesman told Sky News: “Under previous policy, we had advised that someone with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) may be searched in accordance with their acquired sex.
“However, as an interim position while we digest today’s judgment, we have advised our officers that any same sex searches in custody are to be undertaken in accordance with the biological birth sex of the detainee.”
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In September last year, BTP, which is responsible for policing the UK’s railways and similar transport systems, published its “position” on transgender and non-binary officers carrying out strip searches.
It said officers would “only be able to search persons of the same sex on their birth or gender recognition certificate (GRC).
Officers who identified as another gender but who did not have a GRC were not allowed to, but if a trans woman had a certificate, they could strip search a female detainee.
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Gender ruling – How it happened
Strip searches involve the removal of more than a jacket, outer coat, gloves, headwear and footwear.
They “expose buttocks, genitalia and (female) breasts”, the BTP guidance says.
The Sex Matters campaign applied for a judicial review of that guidance with the High Court in December.
It said the policy “puts detainees at risk of sexual harassment and sexual assault”, and said it was a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
Sex Matters said the policy “also puts female officers in a humiliating and dangerous position, as they may be pressured to search trans-identified men”.
Read more: NHS must stop trans people being allowed on single-sex wars
Campaigners celebrated outside the Supreme Court after Wednesday’s ruling. Pic: PA
One of the High Court judges who made Wednesday’s decision, Lord Hodge, said the ruling should not be read as “a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another”.
Government minister Karin Smyth told Sky News public bodies have been told to look at how equality laws are implemented following the ruling.
She said: “Obviously, public bodies have been asked to look at their own guidance.
“And we will do that very, very carefully.”
But she warned against public bodies making statements “that may alarm people”, telling them to take their time to look at their guidance.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said the ruling means there is “no confusion” now.
She said the NHS will “have to change” its 2019 policy, which says transgender patients are entitled to be accommodated on single-sex wards matching how they identify.
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