WEEKLY COLUMN by Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie 

A public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal published its report this week and it was damning.

This is something I have raised in parliament and this newspaper because of a constituent Sally-Anne Wherry.

She came to see me last year because her father was infected as he is a haemophiliac. 

Her story broke my heart.  

Families like Sally-Anne's and many others have had to wait decades for answers and compensation. 

It is a national disgrace and governments of all party colours, medics, the NHS and civil servants bear responsibility. 

In the 1970s through to the 1990s, many people with haemophilia were infected with hepatitis C and HIV because of receiving contaminated clotting factor products.

The report finds that authorities had covered up what happened over many decades and had exposed victims to unacceptable risks.

The Prime Minister told parliament the report marked a “day of shame for the British state”. He said comprehensive compensation will be paid. 

I will be pushing the government very hard to ensure this compensation is delivered as quickly as possible.

There can be no delays.

Many of the victims are seriously ill and 3000 have already died.

SNJ readers might also remember I spoke about smartphones and children in this column not long ago and how I support banning smartphones in schools.

The debate on how we can find the right balance for children’s smartphone usage and the dangers is now gathering pace.

I took part in a parliamentary debate about it last week following local parents contacting me. My view is the case for an effective ban has been made, although I accept there will be challenges for teachers and support will be needed.

But as Prof Jonathan Haidt said in a recent report, we must act as having a mobile phone at school is the equivalent of us bringing our television sets to school back in our day, along with our video cassette recorders, record players, walkie-talkies and any other communication devices or games, and sticking them on our school desks.

We would not have done that, so why are we allowing it now?

But adults need to set an example too. Many MPs – myself included – spend too much time looking at our phones even in the chamber.

Evidence, if needed, of just how addictive and distracting smartphones are.

As I said in my speech: “How the hell can we expect children to stay off their phones and concentrate in schools if that is what they are seeing all around them?”