Latest news with #publicinquiry
BBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Government makes major changes to infected blood compensation
The government has said it is making "substantial changes" to the compensation scheme for thousands of victims of the infected blood announcement was made in Parliament two weeks after a heavily critical report into the payment scheme by the chair of the public inquiry into the Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said he wanted to restore trust to people who had been "let down too many times".Victims' groups "cautiously welcomed" the announcement but said it was disappointing that some changes were still subject to further consultation. It is thought 30,000 people were infected with HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C in the 1970s, 80s and early 90s after being given contaminated blood products on the inquiry's main report into the scandal, published last year, found that too little was done to stop the importing of contaminated blood products from abroad at the time, and that elements of the scandal had been covered up by the health this month the inquiry's chair, Sir Brian Langstaff, published a 200-page follow-up report after receiving "email after email" expressing concerns about the way the government's £11.8bn compensation scheme for victims had been described the speed that payments had been made as "profoundly unsatisfactory" and said that victims had been "harmed further" by the way they had been treated over the last 12 months. Responding in parliament, the government said it would immediately accept seven of the 16 recommendations made by the inquiry related to the design of the scheme, with the others subject to consultation with Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA), an arms-length body set up by ministers to administer payments, said it would separately accept all 11 recommendations under its changes being made include:A new system will be created allowing people to register for compensation rather than wait to be invitedSupport payments for widows of those who died in the scandal will be reinstated until their compensation claim is finalisedPeople infected with HIV before a 1982 cut-off date will now be able to claim compensation whereas before they were ineligibleThe size of a supplementary payment for victims who were subject to unethical medical research will be reviewed along with the type of patient who qualifies Thomas-Symonds said: "Our focus as we move forward must be working together to not only deliver justice to all those impacted, but also to restore trust in the state to people who have been let down too many times."The compensation scheme is open to those who were infected and also their family members, including parents, children and siblings, who can claim compensation in their own right as someone affected by the the old rules, family members who died before their own claim was settled would not have received any compensation has now been changed so if they die before 31 December 2031 their payment can be passed on through their government will also consult on a number of other issues including how the scheme recognises the impact of interferon treatment for hepatitis C which has been linked to severe side effects, and how severe psychological harm is said that the changes would cost £1bn on top of the £11.8bn already set aside to pay compensation over the course of this Parliament. An update on the total cost will be made in the next autumn Evans, the chairman of Tainted Blood, a group which represents 1,600 victims and their families, welcomed the announcement but said that some issues, including the level of compensation for hepatitis victims, had still not been properly addressed."The government is clearly listening to us. It's a shame that it took the further involvement of the inquiry for it to take our concerns seriously, but I hope that this statement marks the start of a better working relationship," he said."We must now press forward to ensure that this compensation scheme provides real justice, as far as money ever can, for all victims of this scandal."
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Ex-miners hope Orgreave inquiry will bring answers
Former miners and campaigners have welcomed the news of a public inquiry into the violent confrontation outside Orgreave coking plant in 1984 during the year-long miner's than 40 years after the clashes between police and striking miners, the BBC spoke to some of those present that day about what they hoped the national review would achieve. At the start of 1984 Bob Heron was a miner at the Eppleton Colliery at Hetton-le-Hole, County like tens of thousands of his colleagues, by March he had walked out in opposition to plans to shut 20 UK on 18 June he found himself among hundreds of striking miners heading to Orgreave, in South Yorkshire, to join a picket line outside the coking plant."It was really frightening the whole of that day," he recalls."We didn't go down there for a fight, we were down there in trainers, jeans and T-shirts and the police were down with truncheons, shields, helmets and body armour."The events of that day would later become known as the Battle of Orgreave, after miners and police officers clashed, with more than 100 left Mr Heron said he and his fellow picketers had not gone with the intention of staring a fight."It was orchestrated by the police and the government, it was at a very high level the decisions were taken and its time for those people to be brought to justice," he said. Recounting his own experience of the day he described the moment when police officers came out on horseback, causing the picket line to scatter and leaving him separated from his colleagues."I got pushed down the embankment and as I was getting myself together a police dog came up behind me and ripped my jeans and grabbed my leg," he managed to get the dog off but the police dog handler had shouted at him pointing to his leg."When I looked it was pouring with blood and my trainer was full of blood," he said the handler had told him to get behind the police lines where there were ambulances waiting and he was taken to Rotherham still has the scars from the bite and said it was clear to him the police had come "ready for a fight"."It had been well orchestrated right from the beginning," he said."We do need to find out who was responsible right at the top." Former Derbyshire miner John Dunn, from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, said he hoped the inquiry will get to the truth of what happened."How did 6,000 police know to be waiting in full riot gear and why where they given the instructions to run rampant through innocent people?"We only wanted a job, to feed our families, to live in a decent community."For that people had their head smashed, bones broken and for the 95 [miners who were arrested] the threat of life imprisonment."Mr Dunn said he would like to think that justice could still be delivered after so long and people held to account."We've got to expose what happened, who gave the orders, why it was planned then."He said they had been "denied justice" for 41 years and the inquiry was an "opportunity"."It's our turn. We want to tell our story and the truth to be out," he said. Chris Kitchen was also at Orgreave in June 1984 and is now the general secretary of the National Union of said the inquiry was a "long-time coming"."We need to show that we were actually the victims and we were being manipulated at the time for political reasons."Mr Kitchen said what happened at Orgreave was well-documented, but it had happened at picket lines across the country in 1984 and it was essential no other industry faced that kind of action."There shouldn't be a price on justice, and that justice shouldn't be time-barred," he said."We need to make sure the inquiry gets to the bottom of what did happen so protections can be put in place."There are people that suffered and that are still suffering from what happened 41 years ago and they deserve the truth to get out." Alan Mardghum, from Durham Miners Association, vividly recalls the men who came home to the North East after Orgreave."They were traumatised, they had never seen that level of violence, it was new in a British industrial dispute," he said."The lads that were there went through the mill, they remember it like yesterday."He said the biggest impact was a "total lack of faith in the police", saying: "It was a shock to the system to see British policemen acting like that."He said while he was pleased there would be a full inquiry he hoped it would have access to all the papers, even those embargoed until decades from now, and said it was a regret many papers and evidence from the period had been destroyed."I hope its a full inquiry, I hope they look and ask who gave the orders for multiple police forces to be deployed, who gave the orders for them to be tooled up with riot gear, with horses, with riot shields, batons and truncheons."It was like a military offensive and that needs to be addressed."He said hundreds of miners had been "seriously injured" and "we saw people changing film around to make it look like the miners had instigated the violence"."That was totally untrue and we need that to come out and the responsible people need to be held to account."Announcing the inquiry Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the events of 18 June 1984 had "raised concerns that have been left unanswered for decades, and we must now establish what happened".She said together with campaigners she would work to support the Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield, who will lead the review, in order to "build an inquiry that gets the answers they and their communities deserve." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
The Independent
3 days ago
- The Independent
Miners arrested at Orgreave say their names can finally be cleared after inquiry
Former striking miners who were arrested during the violent confrontation at Orgreave in 1984 said their names could finally be cleared after the announcement of a public inquiry. The inquiry, expected to launch in the autumn, will investigate the events surrounding clashes at the Orgreave Coking Plant in South Yorkshire on June 18 1984, which caused 120 injuries. In total, 95 picketers were arrested and initially charged with riot and violent disorder, but all charges were later dropped after evidence was discredited. On Monday representatives from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign welcomed the 'historic and momentous announcement' at a press conference in Sheffield. Kevin Horne, who was one of the 95 people arrested on that day, said: 'We have this chance now to wipe the slate clean so that our children and grandchildren can respect the police again.' He said his children had 'seen me come back from Orgreave black and blue' adding: 'I had to wait 14 months for my name to be cleared, all the time thinking I could go to prison for life.' Another former miner who attended the press conference, Craig Mansell, told the PA news agency he had been arrested at 8.45am on that day and 'saw a few nasty things'. He said: 'These are the police that are supposed to help us in our country – they were animals, a lot of them were OTT.' Mr Mansell, 59, from Sheffield, said the announcement of a public inquiry was 'brilliant'. 'It means a lot. We can finally put everything to bed, get it out there and let people know exactly what went off and why it went off.' He told PA: 'It's bitter, because there's thousands that's no longer with us that have been wanting this to happen for 41 years. They're not around to see it, but hopefully their names will be cleared.' John Dunn, who was not present at Orgreave but was arrested on other occasions throughout the miners' strike, told the press conference: 'The best we can hope for is that we clear our names. 'Every copper who perjured themselves, everybody who gave instructions about what they had to write in their arrest statements must be held to account. 'I don't think we'll ever get real justice but if we can clear our names and absolve the NUM of all the slanders and the smears, we can go a fair way to making sure things like that stop and aren't allowed to happen again.' The inquiry will be statutory with powers to compel people to provide information where necessary, the Home Office said. The Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield, has agreed to chair the inquiry, which the Home Office said is intended to 'aid the public's understanding of how the events on the day, and immediately after, came to pass'. A statement read at the event by Chris Peace from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign said what happened at Orgreave was key to understanding what happened throughout the 1984-5 strike. She said: 'Events relating to this day can provide answers to how and why paramilitary violent policing across mining villages and communities all over Britain was taking place throughout the strike. 'We want answers to questions about the systemic violent and lying behaviour of the police. 'We need to know how police officers on the ground were briefed and how that briefing came about. 'We need government and police papers releasing that have been embargoed until 2066 and 2071. 'What is important is that due to the age and health of many miners we quickly secure a public acknowledgement of why and what the state did to the miners and our communities.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Miners arrested at Orgreave say their names can finally be cleared after inquiry
Former striking miners who were arrested during the violent confrontation at Orgreave in 1984 said their names could finally be cleared after the announcement of a public inquiry. The inquiry, expected to launch in the autumn, will investigate the events surrounding clashes at the Orgreave Coking Plant in South Yorkshire on June 18 1984, which caused 120 injuries. In total, 95 picketers were arrested and initially charged with riot and violent disorder, but all charges were later dropped after evidence was discredited. On Monday representatives from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign welcomed the 'historic and momentous announcement' at a press conference in Sheffield. Kevin Horne, who was one of the 95 people arrested on that day, said: 'We have this chance now to wipe the slate clean so that our children and grandchildren can respect the police again.' He said his children had 'seen me come back from Orgreave black and blue' adding: 'I had to wait 14 months for my name to be cleared, all the time thinking I could go to prison for life.' Another former miner who attended the press conference, Craig Mansell, told the PA news agency he had been arrested at 8.45am on that day and 'saw a few nasty things'. He said: 'These are the police that are supposed to help us in our country – they were animals, a lot of them were OTT.' Mr Mansell, 59, from Sheffield, said the announcement of a public inquiry was 'brilliant'. 'It means a lot. We can finally put everything to bed, get it out there and let people know exactly what went off and why it went off.' He told PA: 'It's bitter, because there's thousands that's no longer with us that have been wanting this to happen for 41 years. They're not around to see it, but hopefully their names will be cleared.' John Dunn, who was not present at Orgreave but was arrested on other occasions throughout the miners' strike, told the press conference: 'The best we can hope for is that we clear our names. 'Every copper who perjured themselves, everybody who gave instructions about what they had to write in their arrest statements must be held to account. 'I don't think we'll ever get real justice but if we can clear our names and absolve the NUM of all the slanders and the smears, we can go a fair way to making sure things like that stop and aren't allowed to happen again.' The inquiry will be statutory with powers to compel people to provide information where necessary, the Home Office said. The Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield, has agreed to chair the inquiry, which the Home Office said is intended to 'aid the public's understanding of how the events on the day, and immediately after, came to pass'. A statement read at the event by Chris Peace from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign said what happened at Orgreave was key to understanding what happened throughout the 1984-5 strike. She said: 'Events relating to this day can provide answers to how and why paramilitary violent policing across mining villages and communities all over Britain was taking place throughout the strike. 'We want answers to questions about the systemic violent and lying behaviour of the police. 'We need to know how police officers on the ground were briefed and how that briefing came about. 'We need government and police papers releasing that have been embargoed until 2066 and 2071. 'What is important is that due to the age and health of many miners we quickly secure a public acknowledgement of why and what the state did to the miners and our communities.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Omagh bomb families call for special advocate for closed hearings at inquiry
Survivors and families of those killed in the Omagh bomb have asked to be represented by a special advocate in closed hearings at the public inquiry. Omagh Bombing Inquiry chairman Lord Turnbull is hearing arguments around applications during dedicated hearings this week. Counsel to the inquiry Paul Greaney KC said the inquiry, which is probing whether the 1998 dissident republican bomb attack could have been prevented, will hear some sensitive security evidence in closed hearings. The atrocity in the Co Tyrone town on August 15 1998 killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins. Speaking during hearings in Belfast on Monday, Mr Greaney said the inquiry's legal team recognises that survivors and the bereaved have spent 25 seeking the truth, and may be 'suspicious or even cynical of the UK state's willingness to engage in a way that is straightforward and wholehearted with this inquiry'. 'We acknowledge too, that the idea of evidence being heard in circumstances in which the families and survivors will be excluded is one that they will find difficult to accept, to say the least, and accordingly, we regard it as entirely understandable that some, although not all, have suggested special advocates should be appointed to represent their interests in any closed hearings, and have made applications for that to occur,' he said.
