GB News presenter Andrew Pierce has blasted the UK's efforts to compensate those affected by the infected blood scandal, with the publication of the final report due to drop today.
Between 1970 and the early 1990s, over 30,000 people were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C as a result of receiving contaminated blood.
Campaigners met on Parliament Square this weekend ahead of the report's publication, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to issue an apology today.
Discussing the latest development on GB News, Andrew Pierce hit out at the successive governments for being "so slow" to act and compensate those affected.
Andrew Pierce has blasted the government's speed to conclude the infected blood scandal
GB News / PA
Speaking on Britain's Newsroom, he fumed: "I think this is going to go down as arguably the biggest ever scandal. It shakes your foundations of trust. France had their inquiry done and dusted by 1999, and three politicians were charged with manslaughter.
"One was convicted of it, didn't go to prison ironically, but that was that was 15 years ago. We are so slow!"
Commentator Sarah Vine highlighted that the story on the UK's infected blood scandal was broken by the "Mail on Sunday 30 years ago".
Co-host Bev Turner noted the Government's planned compensation package of £10million, and stated it "won't go very far" for the victims and their families, given over 30,000 people had been affected and some have died as a result.
Infected blood campaigners met in Parliament Square in London this weekend ahead of the publication of the final report
PA
Bev explained: "Now this compensation package is £10billion. But actually, that won't go very far amongst those people.
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"You think about the loss of earnings for individuals, the loss of earnings if a parent died, what that would have meant for their lifetime of work."
Andrew then added: "Almost 400 children died as well, many children died. And still people are dying at the rate of one every four or five days."
Vine compared the infected blood scandal to the ongoing Post Office scandal, stating: "You look at it and you think, I don't understand how this could possibly have happened."
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has spoken of the plans to compensate the victims of the scandal, up to £10billion, noting it is the "worst scandal of his lifetime".
Sarah Vine says she 'cannot understand how the scandal could have happened'
GB News
Hunt said: "I think that the families have got every right to be incredibly angry that generations of politicians, including me when I was health secretary, have not acted fast enough to address the scandal.
"Rishi Sunak and I both believe the delays have gone on too long and now is the time for justice."
A Government spokesperson described the infected blood scandal as “an appalling tragedy that never should have happened”.
