Anyone else feeling this is a really dark day for UK

It's not a dark day today all the darkness (hopefully) is coming into the light If the news is depressing you this don't watch

Organisations tend to protect themselves and we need to find a way to make fairness and humanity matter more than the instinct to cover up. I have noticed in the past, for instance, that a policeman accused of misconduct very rarely (if ever?) gets found 'guilty' and suffers the consequences of misconduct. Of course sometimes they may be innocent ......but surely not so consistently as it seems to be from the media. I am not sure what a law about the duty of candour would mean in practice, but it sounds good to me in principle. A law which means you have to report misconduct or be guilty yourself for keeping quiet - would empower whistle blowers perhaps?

Babamaman

You are so right oh and there are the Ghurkas who fought alongside our soldiers and don’t get a military or any pension or recognition.
We are in a ‘them’ & ‘us’ world! Always was always will be.
They think throwing crumbs at victims will keep us quiet.

2007:

Gurkhas still serving and those who retired since July 1997 will now be allowed to enter the wider armed forces pension scheme, the Ministry of Defence said.

March 2024:
Former Gurkha soldiers have threatened to resume hunger strikes in a long-running dispute with the British government over their pension rights.

Soldiers who retired before 1997 receive a fraction of the pension of their British Army counterparts.

Yet another injustice which needs to be righted.

You are so right oh and there are the Ghurkas who fought alongside our soldiers and don’t get a military or any pension or recognition.
We are in a ‘them’ & ‘us’ world! Always was always will be.
They think throwing crumbs at victims will keep us quiet.

Unfortunately , while we are glued to the newspapers, TV etc. learning in graphic detail of the evil, corruption, injustice and so forth , we are unable to remember that there are far more good people out there, loving, kind and generous .

Those who care for families, for the sick and needy, who volunteer and share their good fortune, work hard .

I could go on. The Golden Rule. "Do unto others as you would..........

The truth is that we haven't a clue what's going on and we never will, they have all got each other's backs.

It's like going to war, we never learn. The PO & Infected Blood scandals are front and centre at the moment but they aren't the first. The Hillsborough tragedy took 32 years and was mired in lies, passing the buck and delaying tactics from those at the top, especially the police, before there was any sort of closure for the grieving families. Grenfell Tower is only 7 years into their investigations so that will likely run for another decade or more. To me there seems a worrying correlation with these cases. The Hillsborough victims were seen as Scouse football yobs, the Grenfell Tower victims were largely immigrant and minimum wage earners. Those who can bring justice have an almost holier than thou attitude as if people they consider near the bottom of the social ladder don't matter. If those responsible went to court I might feel otherwise but they never are held to account. We saw it this week with Vennells and her 'can't remember' replies. Sad thing is there is another scandal waiting just around the corner. Will that be treated any more fairly or rapidly. Of course, not!

I was a blood donor for many years when I was younger and it always surprised me, as it still does, that there’s so little advertising for new donors. My suggested “You always expect it to be there if you need it” fell on deaf ears. In one Scandinavian country, Denmark possibly, where if someone has a transfusion someone in the family is expected to replace it if at all possible. It remains a complete mystery to me why we were buying infected untested blood. A terrible stain on those who made the decisions.

I am amazed and horrified that so many people, especially those in positions of trust and seniority, can lie so easily. It makes me wonder what the point of trials or inquiries are when witnesses or defendants, etc. can say just what makes them look good or what they feel is the right thing to say. How can there be any justice?

The most horrific event is the involvement of this country in the abuse and genocide and multiplicity of barbaric acts carried out on the Palestinian people. Blair took this country into an illegal war for self-aggrandissement. Now the current government and shadow cabinet has supported a Zionist state that is totally unhinged and devoid of morality.

M0nica

I think far from being a dark day it was a bright day, when at last these scandals andtheir causes were being brought out to the light and are being examined in public after years in a dark closet with multipe padlocks on the doors.

Let us hope this frightens people enough not to countenance such cover-ups in the future because of the knowledge that you will almost certainly be found out.

I agree.
A dark day for something means when a bad thing happens.
The PO inquiry is bringing light to wrongdoing.

Freya5

zakouma66

Freya5

That's what happens when you buy tainted blood from foreign countries. I hate to think that maybe some blood I helped administer came from prison in mates and drug addicts from the US where checks must have been appallingly absent. The US blood service needs also to hang its head in shame.
I sincerely hope these poor families and the victims of this appalling tragedy get their justice, too late for others unfortunately. As with the post office scandal, lives appallingly ruined because of downright bloody incompetent people, not fit to run anything. 😭

Are you a medic Freya?

What is a medic, are you American. No I wasn't a Dr, in the UK Registered Nurses, which I was, can administer a blood transfusion once its been prescribed, the care is all done by a Registered Nurse.

Apologies sounded a bit rude in the first sentence.

Chardy

The Sub-postmasters debacle was active in 2003, people having to pay money 'back' for Horizon's problems. Private Eye put it in the public domain in 2011. It's taken almost a working lifetime to sort out, and no proper compensation. No prosecutions

Infected blood was 1970s & 1980s. Still no proper compensation. No prosecutions.

Grenfell 6yrs ago. Still no proper compensation. No prosecutions

Hillsborough 1989 the same.

Windrush compensation scheme - not satisfactorily sorted. And now people who've paid UK income tax all their lives being told they're not really British.

And 50s women - talk of bring offered £3k for losing over £40k, with what the Parliamentary Ombudsman described as maladministration.

And what do we get? General Election 2024 so it's all swept back under the carpet. Dark day indeed.

Paying taxes for 40 years does not make you British. My sister has been paying taxes in Germany for 45 years, doesn't make her a German. A citizenship or country birth parent is the only thing that can do that.

zakouma66

Freya5

That's what happens when you buy tainted blood from foreign countries. I hate to think that maybe some blood I helped administer came from prison in mates and drug addicts from the US where checks must have been appallingly absent. The US blood service needs also to hang its head in shame.
I sincerely hope these poor families and the victims of this appalling tragedy get their justice, too late for others unfortunately. As with the post office scandal, lives appallingly ruined because of downright bloody incompetent people, not fit to run anything. 😭

Are you a medic Freya?

What is a medic, are you American. No I wasn't a Dr, in the UK Registered Nurses, which I was, can administer a blood transfusion once its been prescribed, the care is all done by a Registered Nurse.

I think far from being a dark day it was a bright day, when at last these scandals andtheir causes were being brought out to the light and are being examined in public after years in a dark closet with multipe padlocks on the doors.

Let us hope this frightens people enough not to countenance such cover-ups in the future because of the knowledge that you will almost certainly be found out.

Chardy

The Sub-postmasters debacle was active in 2003, people having to pay money 'back' for Horizon's problems. Private Eye put it in the public domain in 2011. It's taken almost a working lifetime to sort out, and no proper compensation. No prosecutions

Infected blood was 1970s & 1980s. Still no proper compensation. No prosecutions.

Grenfell 6yrs ago. Still no proper compensation. No prosecutions

Hillsborough 1989 the same.

Windrush compensation scheme - not satisfactorily sorted. And now people who've paid UK income tax all their lives being told they're not really British.

And 50s women - talk of bring offered £3k for losing over £40k, with what the Parliamentary Ombudsman described as maladministration.

And what do we get? General Election 2024 so it's all swept back under the carpet. Dark day indeed.

I agree!

Yes, you can now.

Can an UK citizen give blood in Australia?
Yes, you can! There used to be a rule preventing people who lived in the UK between 1980 and 1996 from giving blood in Australia, but it was changed on 25 July 2022. The rule was related to the fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD, the human form of the bovine condition sometimes known as 'mad cow disease').

Casdon

Sorry, I misread what you said. Is it still the case in Australia?

I'm not sure.

Sorry, I misread what you said. Is it still the case in Australia?

DH hadn't had a transfusion; it was anyone from the UK.

Callistemon21

Casdon

I think you have to ask what the root cause of the blood scandal was too. The British public not donating sufficient blood to meet the demand. Despite advertising campaigns then and now, that is still a big concern.

British people are not allowed to donate blood in Australia because of the BSE scandal. When DH offered his for DD who was very ill, he was turned down even though none was available locally.

I know, I was in that category too, because I was given blood when I had my daughter by Caesarian. I used to donate, but wasn’t ever allowed to after that. Most people still could though in the UK, as they hadn’t had transfusions.

Casdon

I think you have to ask what the root cause of the blood scandal was too. The British public not donating sufficient blood to meet the demand. Despite advertising campaigns then and now, that is still a big concern.

British people are not allowed to donate blood in Australia because of the BSE scandal. When DH offered his for DD who was very ill, he was turned down even though none was available locally.

The Sub-postmasters debacle was active in 2003, people having to pay money 'back' for Horizon's problems. Private Eye put it in the public domain in 2011. It's taken almost a working lifetime to sort out, and no proper compensation. No prosecutions

Infected blood was 1970s & 1980s. Still no proper compensation. No prosecutions.

Grenfell 6yrs ago. Still no proper compensation. No prosecutions

Hillsborough 1989 the same.

Windrush compensation scheme - not satisfactorily sorted. And now people who've paid UK income tax all their lives being told they're not really British.

And 50s women - talk of bring offered £3k for losing over £40k, with what the Parliamentary Ombudsman described as maladministration.

And what do we get? General Election 2024 so it's all swept back under the carpet. Dark day indeed.

The US needs to hang its head in shame over so many issues.
They have the FDA who, through bribery allowed OxyContin to come to the market.
My brother in law was a chef on the Queen Mary. He sold his blood every time they docked in New York.

Freya5

That's what happens when you buy tainted blood from foreign countries. I hate to think that maybe some blood I helped administer came from prison in mates and drug addicts from the US where checks must have been appallingly absent. The US blood service needs also to hang its head in shame.
I sincerely hope these poor families and the victims of this appalling tragedy get their justice, too late for others unfortunately. As with the post office scandal, lives appallingly ruined because of downright bloody incompetent people, not fit to run anything. 😭

Are you a medic Freya?