COMPENSATING victims of the infected blood scandal will cost “very, very large sums”, the Chancellor has said.
Jeremy Hunt added that the Government has accepted the moral case for payouts after thousands of patients in the UK developed HIV and hepatitis C.
He was giving evidence to the inquiry examining how the UK imported contaminated products to treat haemophilia and other blood disorders in the 1970s and 1980s.
The UK had been reliant on supplies from the US, where it was manufactured with blood collected from high-risk groups who were paid to give blood.
Almost 3,000 people died in what was described as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the health service.
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Some 4,500 victims, and some bereaved partners, receive ongoing financial support.
in October 2022, they also received the first interim compensation payment of £100,000 each.
No final decisions will be made before its findings later this year.
Asked about reports the bill for survivors and bereaved partners could be up to £20billion, he refused to give a final figure but said: “These are potentially very, very large sums of money.
“It’s a very uncomfortable thing to say, but I can’t ignore the economic and fiscal context - because, in the end, the country only has the money it has.”
He also denied the timescale for compensation was being ‘kicked into the long grass’, adding: “I am absolutely content we have been acting at pace.”