Infected blood scandal: ‘not inconceivable’ that officials or politicians could face prosecution, minister says – UK politics live | Politics

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Minister claims it’s ‘not inconceivable’ that officials or politicians could face prosecution over infected blood scandal

Good morning. Today there will be further reaction to the vast and damning report from Sir Brian Langstaff’s infected blood inquiry. Rishi Sunak told MPs yesterday that the government would pay “comprehensive compensation to those infected and those affected by this scandal” and John Glen, the Cabinet Office minister, will make a statement to the Commons on this after 12.30pm. But there is also increasing interest in whether any of those responsible may face prosecution.

Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, was doing a media round this morning and he described prosecutions as “not inconceivable”. Asked if officials or politicians could be taken to court over what happened, Stride replied:

I think all of those things should and will be looked at … I have no doubt that all of those things will be extremely carefully looked at, because in that 2,700-page report, there are many questions and many short failings that have surfaced, and they all need to be looked at very carefully. And it is not inconceivable that what you’ve described may be something that transpires.

Stride is one of several politicians giving speeches on what is set to be a busy day for political news. Here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: Rishi Sunak is meeting Karl Nehammer, the Austrian chancellor, in Vienna.

10am: Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, gives a speech on antisemitism.

10.45am: Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader and shadow levelling up secretary, gives a speech on Labour’s plans for new towns.

11am: Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, gives a speech on welfare reform.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

Lunchtime: The government is due to publish a long-awaited report from John Woodcock (Lord Walney) on political violence and disruption.

After 12.30pm: John Glen, the Cabinet Office minister, gives a statement to MPs on compensation for victims of the infected blood scandal.

2.30pm: Andrew Mitchell, the deputy foreign secretary, and Alan Mak, a trade minister, give evidence to the Commons business committee on arms exports to Israel.

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Updated at 09.32 BST

Key events

Max Hill, a former director of public prosecutions, said this morning that, although the corporate manslaughter charge could not be used to prosecute people involved in the infected blood scandal, other options were available.

He told Times Radio:

If the evidence is there, there is no bar to an investigation and a prosecution.

Now, sadly, corporate manslaughter came into force as a criminal offence on April 6, 2008 – much too late to deal with this case.

However, there are other criminal offences which pre-date corporate manslaughter, where individuals have a duty of care and [if] they breached that duty in a gross way – that’s a legal term – they can be held liable.

Gross negligence manslaughter comes to my mind and also misconduct in public office.

It’s not for me to know whether either of those are feasible in these circumstances, but the criminal law does provide answers such as this even decades after the event.

ShareRishi Sunak with the Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer in Vienna this morning. Photograph: Alex Halada/AFP/Getty ImagesSunak and Nehammer inspecting an honour guard. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/AFP/Getty ImagesSunak and Nehammer entering the Federal Chancellery Ballhausplatz in Vienna. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/ReutersShare

Austrian chancellor says Rwanda-style policies needed to deal with EU’s illegal migration problem after meeting with Sunak

The Austrian chancellor, Karl Nehammer, has described Rwanda-style deportation policies as “part of the solution” to the problem posed by illegal migration.

Nehammer backed Rishi Sunak’s flagship policy after the two leaders met in Vienna this morning for talks. In comments to the press afterwards, Nehammer said that he supported “the British path and the British model” for dealing with illegal migration and he welcome the fact that 15 EU countries have now spoken out in favour of gettting safe third countries to process asylum seekers.

In a message posted on X, Nehammer also thanked Sunak for his “strong support” on this issue.

Prime Minister @RishiSunak and I agree: asylum procedures should be carried out in safe third countries. This approach requires robust protection of Europe‘s external borders alongside the establishement of well-functioning asylum centers in these third countries. Thank you for… pic.twitter.com/9RBLnrT6Lv

— Karl Nehammer (@karlnehammer) May 21, 2024

In their joint appearance before the media, Sunak said that illegal migration has become “truly one of the defining issues of our time” and that “we face criminal gangs that are growing in strength across the European continent and beyond”.

He said Nehammer had been “right on this issue for a long time” and has been bringing attention to it in Europe. He added:

It’s increasingly clear that many other countries now agree that that is the approach that is required – bold, novel, looking at safe country partnerships.

Rishi Sunak and Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer speaking to the media in the Austrian Chancellery in Vienna this morning. Photograph: Max Slovencik/EPAShare

Updated at 09.34 BST