LEAST WE CAN DO! APOLOGY TO BLOOD SCANDAL VICTIMS

A LONG-AWAITED official apology for victims of the infected blood scandal is expected to be issued by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

- Steph Spyro

He will acknowledge the decadeslong agony to thousands of patients impacted by what has been described as the "worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS".

Today a final report from the Infected Blood Inquiry will be published, followed by details of a £10billion compensation package for victims and their families.

Those affected were given contaminated blood products by the NHS between the 1970s and early 1990s. Some 3,000 have already died.

One Cabinet minister said yesterday that it was "absolutely wrong" that victims of the scandal have waited decades for justice.

Grant Shapps admitted that the families affected have been let down "for far too long". The Defence Secretary said the cases were one of the most shameful failures of government he had seen. Asked if the process of compensation had taken too long, even in recent years, Mr Shapps said: "Yes, I think it has been too slow."

He added the scandal had been a "massive injustice which needs to be put right" and he pledged ministers would act on the report.

People who had lost loved ones to the scandal rallied in London's Parliament Square yesterday afternoon for a final time before the report was published today.

They staged a moment of silence in remembrance of the people who have lost their lives because of the treatment disaster. Some campaigners there have been fighting for justice for decades.

Rachel Halford, the chief executive of The Hepatitis C Trust, said: "It has been a really long road to get here."