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Today β€” 18 May 2024Main stream

Jeremy Hunt urged to honour pledge on infected blood compensation payouts

18 May 2024 at 14:00

As the inquiry publishes it final report, the chancellor is under pressure to find Β£10bn to put right a longstanding injustice

The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will come under pressure to stay true to his word and sign off on immediate compensation payments totalling up to Β£10bn to victims of the contaminated blood scandal when the long-awaited final report on the affair is published on Monday.

The scandal is described as the worst treatment disaster in NHS history, with more than 3,000 people having died as a result of receiving contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. It is estimated that, even today, a person infected during the scandal dies every four days.

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Β© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

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Β© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

How accurate are Jeremy Hunt’s claims about the UK economy?

Chancellor seems to cherrypick data as he tries to outline how the Tories have got the country back on its feet

Jeremy Hunt called a press conference on Friday to outline why the electorate should trust the Conservatives with the economy, but some of his claims appear to have used cherrypicked facts and figures. He gave his speech just over a week after the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, accused the Conservatives of β€œgaslighting” the UK over the state of the economy by presenting too rosy a picture of what is actually going on.

Here are some of Hunt’s statements on the economy, and some context for his claims.

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Β© Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

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Β© Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

Yesterday β€” 17 May 2024Main stream

Jeremy Hunt accused of exaggerating Tories’ economic record

Chancellor also criticised for β€˜dodgy dossier’ on Labour plans as he aims to make low tax a key election issue

Jeremy Hunt has been accused of exaggerating the Conservatives’ economic record and presenting a β€œdodgy dossier” on Labour’s spending plans, as he moved to put low tax at the heart of his party’s offering at the next election.

The chancellor gave a speech in central London on Friday, pitching the Conservatives as having helped the UK recover from economic troubles more quickly than expected. He also signalled a further cut to national insurance in the autumn, having already reduced the tax from 12p in the pound to 8p.

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Β© Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images

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Β© Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images

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