I was pleased to join a mass lobby here in the Houses of Parliament - joining with demands for immediate compensation to those infected and affected by contaminated blood. The lobby was organised by The Haemophilia Society.
Ahead of the Budget, Dame Diana Johnson and I wrote to the Chancellor to seek assurance that the Government are planning to announce the allocation of sufficient funds to deliver full compensation to victims of the infected blood scandal, in line with the recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
It is now almost a year since the Inquiry's original recommendations and yet the government still refuse to commit to paying full compensation. I note that there was no mention of it in last week's Budget despite meetings behind the scenes - we hope there will be further news, soon.
We now look forward to the report stage of the Victims and Prisoners Bill in the House of Lords which, if passed, would require the government to set up a compensation scheme.
We have met with the Paymaster General multiple times in recent months. We anticipate further meetings to hear of progress in the Government's response to the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Those affected, their families and their loved ones deserve full recognition and compensation. This must be delivered quickly. The Government would be right to lead on this rather than continue to be under pressure from experts and campaigners.
