Norwich North MP Chloe Smith 'thought of contaminated blood victim'

Norwich North MP Chloe Smith defied the government to back a Labour vote for speedier compensation for victims of contaminated blood

A Conservative former Cabinet minister said she had a victim of the contaminated blood scandal in mind when she voted against the government.

Norwich North's Chloe Smith was one of 22 Tory MPs who defied the whip to vote with Labour to speed up the process of compensation for victims of contaminated blood.

The government had ordered them to wait for the outcome of an inquiry.

It is believed to be the first time Ms Smith has defied her party in a vote.

Campaigners for a compensation scheme gathered in London earlier this year

During the 1970s and 80s, some 30,000 patients contracted HIV and Hepatitis C after receiving contaminated blood products.

Last year the government agreed to make the first compensation payments to about 4,000 surviving victims and bereaved partners.

But an inquiry in April said the parents and children of victims should also receive compensation, and that a full programme be set up immediately.

The government said it wanted to wait for the results of an inquiry before doing so.

'Fight for justice'

But in the House of Commons on Monday night, a Conservative rebellion delivered the prime minister his first Commons defeat, forcing ministers to set up a body to run the scheme within three months of a new bill becoming law.

Ms Smith, a former work and pensions secretary, said in a statement: "I particularly voted with the late Norwich campaigner Anne Walker in my mind, who was tireless in her fight for justice despite her own failing health, and others like her who need settlement now."

"I voted simply to make sure we finally get compensation going as quickly as possible in line with the recommendations of the inquiry.

"I've worked to help constituents over many years who have suffered too much from this appalling tragedy, and I continued to do that in the Commons yesterday.

"The government is also committed to what needs to be done."

The vote - an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill - was the government's first defeat in the Commons on a whipped vote since the general election in 2019.

The legislation now needs to be approved by the House of Lords before becoming law.

In November 2022, Ms Smith announced she would stand down at the next general election.