JUST over 30 years ago The Northern Echo launched a campaign called Fight for Justice to persuade the Government to give compensation to haemophiliacs who had contracted the virus through tainted blood products, and whose families were left facing severe hardships.

Ten months after the launch of the campaign, the Government put £10m aside for victims in a trust fund, making special needs payments of up to £25 a week.

As the legal fallout continued, amid efforts to secure substantial damages for those affected, this newspaper again called on the Government to properly compensate people. An editorial on December 12, 1990, read: “We said that the Government’s willingness to face its responsibilities would send an important signal to the rest of the nation. It will remain an appalling aspect of this tragedy that the signal has for so long been muted and hedged in by questions of liability and legality.”

Fast forward to September 2018 and the present government’s legal team issued an apology in the early stages of the public inquiry into the scandal. Eleanor Grey QC told the hearing: “We are sorry. This happened when it should not have done.”

The fact that is has taken more than three decades for the victims to get this kind of statement in a public forum is a national disgrace. Many will not be alive to hear it, with bereaved relatives being left to carry on the fight. This apology, however welcome, leaves a bitter taste.