Sunak on ‘wrong side of history’ over infected blood scandal, says charity

Chair of Haemophilia Society says government stance is ‘huge error’ and hails Commons defeat as ‘victory for democracy’

Rishi Sunak will be on the “wrong side of history” in his handling of the infected blood scandal, the head of a charity has warned, after his government suffered its first parliamentary defeat over when to compensate victims.

The scandal, now the subject of an inquiry, unfolded in the late 1970s and early 80s, after about 4,800 people with the blood-clotting disorder haemophilia were given blood donated – or sold – by people infected with HIV and hepatitis C.