Anyone else feeling this is a really dark day for UK

Omerta certainly doesn't rule in the current NHS. I accept that it did. P.O scandal shows why, it's a universal human impulse to cover up when you've done something wrong. But NHS used to be particularly bad because it was so hierarchical, consultants at the top & all tight together & anyone who presumed to question would be totally out of order. Those days have well & truly gone. There's masses of compulsory training on, to put it bluntly, how to whistle-blow in the rare event you suspect something's off. There are "right to speak up" people in every Trust who are well- publicised & who will help anyone who has concerns but is wary of raising them with their team.That doesn't mean whistle-blowers get an easy ride in any walk of life - but they are well within their rights now & aren't risking their job. The Bristol babies heart scandal, obviously high death rate under one surgeon & no enquiry because they were in a position of power, was only brought to light by a foreign locum anaesthetist as his contract was coming to an end. (in the 90s) The culture is changing fast & huge efforts are being made.

I know someone who was directly affected by the blood scandal and in all honesty I don't know why it has taken so long to get to this point. The person i know received compensation though some 30 years ago now

Spot on Chardy. Wonder what other iniquities are happening - or about to happen - that will be ignored or bungled?

‘Justice delayed is justice denied.’ How true. I’ve known about the infected blood scandal for decades. Still, one knows that in some other countries, the scandals wouldn’t have seen the light of day and protesters would have been imprisoned or bumped off.

Having worked in a public sector role I can tell you that omertà rules. We were actually told that if we had ‘concerns’ we were to share them with a nice, friendly manager which is the last thing I ever would have done.

I don't think history will put the blood scandal in the same time as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The worst thing is that it happened, & it happened one to two generations ago, which is a long time in our fast-moving age. The cover -up started then too. The good thing about all these things coming out is that it makes things so much less likely to be covered up in future (plus the internet & social media which, along with the crazy conspiracy theories, also reveal things that need to be brought to light.) We might think things are darker, but anything discreditable was kept well out of public view back in "rosier" days. Some medical historians estimate that doctors killed more people than they cured right up until the 1940s.What about the servicemen volunteering for research into the common cold, only to be used without their knowledge as guinea pigs for neurotoxin experiments? 1950s britain.

Aveline

It would be darker if it was still all hidden secrets. At least it's all exposed now.
Makes you wonder what else has gone on and is conveniently covered up though.

We’ll see won’t we ? Who knows what’s going to come to light once Mr Sunak has called the removal men !!

As I understand it US authorities realised blood was tainted and banned it. But what to do with stocks left? They exported them to Europe.

My replies aren’t being posted - any ideas?

The big injustice done to the ghurkas eas was not giving them the same pension as UK veterans , the Nepalese would have stayed in their home country and been able to live a good life. Tony Blair and Joanna Lumley thought it best to drag them out of their culture to come over here where they live in overcrowded conditions on less pension than the uk soldier , you couldn’t have made it up, Tony Blair just thought of votes . The pre 1977 Gurkha veterans were mainly rural people who thought nothing of using the gutters as a toilet which caused so much heartache for both the Nepalese who didn’t understand and the local people who had to put up with this and as the majority of them were elderley the impact on the local health service was that it became and still is overwhelmed

Sometimes it makes you think the old Communists had it right. In theory at least.

and the women living in poverty due to losing 5 years pension , the WASPI women are fighting but I think it’s a losing battle , we should be ashamed

Britain is going through a very dark period at the present and I believe that history will see it as such. Not only the scandals but the societal divisions, the intolerance, the inequality and failings in law and order; the police and justice system cannot seem to combat the increasing lawlessness and violence in our society. Is this the beginning of the end of our long held and hard won democracy? We do not perhaps appreciate enough what this country has stood for for generations-tolerance, freedom, personal responsibility and democracy. Surely these are still important now! Sadly, and to the UK’s great detriment, the ‘Mother of Parliaments’ is largely tenanted by cowardly, amoral self seekers who are unfit to govern, let alone listen to the real concerns of the people. Dark days indeed.

I'm glad that the whole truth behind these shameful events might finally be revealed and people or families might receive some sort of compensation for their losses. It does however make me wonder what other events have yet to come to light, what other dreadful injustices have been hidden under the carpet.

I agree Chardy. Your list of outrageous cover ups and neglect by successive governments is a damning indictment of the British political so-called elite and the failure of the police and judiciary to take action.

To me it would be a lot darker if these appalling happenings were still being denied/covered up.

Yes it is awful and then there is still Hillsborough cover up! Grenfell cover up! The continuous war in Ukraine, Mayanmar, Yemen, the forgotten people of Afghanistan starving -
Very bleak & cruel times - depressing

There are so many scandals and injustices, we probably only see the tip of the iceberg! The most worrying - in 20 years time, when we look back with the benefit of hindsight, I wonder what we'll say about those that have knowingly lied about climate change for personal gain and undermined the scientists and others who have tried to get it taken seriously. We're doomed Mr Mannering!

AnD1

My Mum was convinced that she may have had a problem with the blood from a blood transfusion at around that time. I dismissed it as I couldn’t believe it could happen. She sadly died at 73 years of age 25 years ago with liver secondaries but I often wonder and hate myself for not questioning it more.

The problem is that we tend to trust people and are thankful at the time AnD1 ☹

My Mum was convinced that she may have had a problem with the blood from a blood transfusion at around that time. I dismissed it as I couldn’t believe it could happen. She sadly died at 73 years of age 25 years ago with liver secondaries but I often wonder and hate myself for not questioning it more.

The UK government is the only nuclear power on Earth to continue to deny its nuclear weapons testing ever harmed anyone. Disgusting ...

Well said, MadeinYorkshire

Dark day for both especially the blood scandal as some other countries addressed the issue in the 90s. Why have we taken so long?

Dark days indeed . I was infected by dodgy polio vaccine in the 50s and am still feeling the effects now with PPS. I thought we were done with things like this , that there was more accountability these days. As for Vennells and her gang- I hope they rot in hell. I’m angry that they’ve made me feel like this.

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.

All these ... heads would be rolling in any other business than government!

... and then there's this one.

Between 1952 and 1967, more than 20,000 British servicemen took part in hundreds of Cold War weapons tests in Australia and the South Pacific. They would have been jailed for refusing.

Their efforts delivered the nuclear deterrent which has kept this country and her allies safe ever since. Today, only 2,000 or so - most in their 80s, and with chronic health problems - still survive.

Studies show they have higher rates of death and cancer than other veterans, while their wives report 3x the normal rate of miscarriages and their children display 10x the usual amount of birth defects.

As well as the surviving veterans, there are an estimated 155,000 living descendants, many of which suffer from their own trauma because of the anxiety caused by every pregnancy, every illness, and their ever-present fear of early death.

The UK government is the only nuclear power on Earth to continue to deny its nuclear weapons testing ever harmed anyone. Disgusting ...

They need another drama!

@ Brummie AGREED!

,,*thus