DAVID Cameron has promised that if the Conservatives win power on May 7 victims of contaminated blood in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK will receive "more help" with a signal of financial compensation.
The Prime Minister said he wanted to await the report of the Penrose Inquiry, which was established by the Scottish Government seven years ago to investigate how hundreds of people in Scotland were given contaminated blood by the NHS in the 1970s and 1980s with the result many contracted hepatitis C and HIV.
The inquiry, led by former Scottish judge Lord Penrose, ended in March 2012 with a cost at that stage of £9 million. It had been due to report in 2013 but this was delayed until 2014 after it was decided to take further evidence. Further delays were caused by statutory processes and the death of Lord Penrose's wife.
At Prime Minister's Questions, Alistair Burt, the Tory backbencher and ex-Foreign Office Minister, said, while the inquiry had been looking into the tragedy of contaminated blood in Scotland, it was likely to have implications for the whole of the UK.
Noting how, given the proximity of the General Election, a full Government response was unlikely before Parliament was dissolved, he asked if Mr Cameron could give an assurance that the matter would "not slip from his or the Government's agenda and that as soon as possible in the new Parliament there will be an attempt at closing this terrible tragedy in our country?"
The PM said he suspected, like him, every MP had heard moving stories at their surgeries from constituents who had hepatitis C or HIV because of contaminated blood.
"It is right to wait for the Penrose Inquiry. Let me make it clear that that is not an excuse because I want us to take action. I am not sure whether that action will ever fully satisfy those who want this wrong to be righted but as a wealthy and successful country we should be helping these people more."
He added: "We will help them more but we need Penrose first and, if I am standing here after the next election, it will be done."
The report is due on March 25.
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