Labour slammed for focusing too much on 'selling out' on Brexit and not enough on compensating victims of the worst mistreatment scandal in NHS history
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Labour was last night accused of focusing too much on 'selling out' on Brexit and not enough on compensating victims of the worst mistreatment scandal in NHS history. Campaigners for people infected with contaminated blood vented their fury at the 'glacial' pace of compensation for victims and their families.
![[Paymaster General Nick Thomas-Symonds, pictured with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in October, has been accused of concentrating too much on his other key role – negotiating a new post-Brexit deal with Brussels]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/22/00/91236841-14217949-Paymaster_General_Nick_Thomas_Symonds_met_European_Parliament_Pr-a-32_1734826818602.jpg)
And they raised fears that it could be because the relevant minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, was concentrating too much on his other key role – negotiating a new post-Brexit deal with Brussels. As The Mail on Sunday revealed last week, the talks – involving a team of 100 civil servants who will report to Cabinet Office minister Mr Thomas-Symonds – have been branded a bid to 'sell out' on Brexit and reverse the verdict of the 2016 referendum.
![[More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C at the hands of the NHS in the 1970s and 1980s]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/22/00/93102617-14217949-More_than_30_000_people_in_the_UK_were_infected_with_HIV_and_hep-a-33_1734826854853.jpg)
Andy Evans, chairman of the Tainted Blood group which campaigns on behalf of victims of the scandal, suggested the minister's dual responsibilities could explain why compensation was taking so long. Mr Evans said: 'People are still dying at the rate of two per week as result of their infections and it's estimated that by March, another 80 infected persons will die before they get any compensation.
![[Mr Thomas-Symonds, who is both Paymaster General and Cabinet Office Minister with responsibility for the Constitution and EU Relations, said compensation payments are beginning to be made to victims and their families]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/22/00/93392889-14217949-image-a-34_1734826862656.jpg)
'Despite promises of all this happening as soon as possible, the process since the election has been glacial. 'If Mr Thomas-Symonds had this as his overriding responsibility – and not also having to sort out a new deal with Brussels – surely people and families affected would get their just compensation much faster.'.
![[An £11.8billion scheme was set up this year to compensate victims and their families]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/22/00/93392995-14217949-image-a-35_1734826923347.jpg)
