![]() ![]() ![]() The prime minister is first asked about a letter from July 2020 from Penny Mordaunt, who was then paymaster general, to Rishi Sunak, who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer. The prime minister then swears an oath to tell the truth under questioning. The chair opens the session with his thanks to Rishi Sunak for making time to give evidence. He is asked twice more, and is laughed at again, and he replies that policy development is ongoing so he does not know whether there are actions ready to go. He also says that even though the inquiry has not concluded, interim payments to 4,500 people have been made, so "government has acted".Īsked if government has actions ready to go upon the conclusion of the inquiry, Mr Sunak says there is cross-government work under way so it can act "as quickly as possible" when the inquiry is concluded.īut there is laughter and further heckles at the prime minister's answer. He is asked if he wishes the inquiry would have been quicker, and he is heckled again as he says yes, he would. He says if government had acted before the outcome of the inquiry, there would have been discontent as a result. "Of course I appreciate that people want to see action as soon as possible," he says, and adds that the delay "is not good enough".īut he says: "It's very hard for me to second guess the decisions that were made by people in good faith to establish an independent, thorough investigation of all these issues, provide advice to government on how best to deal with compensation and implement it, and then for government to act after receiving that advice." Ms Richards pushes him on the question, and there are audible groans and heckles from the audience as the prime minister begins answering and repeats his position that the inquiry should conclude before compensation is paid out. He acknowledges there is more to do, however. He goes on to say that work is being conducted across government to ensure that when the final inquiry report is received, his government "will aim to act as quickly as possible to make decisions and provide people with the recognition and the justice they deserve". ![]() He says he can only speak for his government, which is less than a year old, and says interim payments of £100,000 each have been paid out, which is the first time a government had done so. He replies: "Of course people have been waiting far too long to get the recognition that they deserve for what's happened and the redress for what's happened." Mr Sunak is asked: "Is that good enough?" In December 2022, the new paymaster general "accepted the moral case" for compensation, but could not commit to a timetable for it to be paid out, and since then, a decision still has not been made and those affected still have no information at all about if and when compensation would be paid. She says an independent study was carried out from March 2021 to determine a framework for compensation, which was delivered to government. Jenni Richards KC, lead counsel for the inquiry, sets out the timeline of compensation discussions and notes there had been calls for it for decades. ![]()
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