Sir Brian Langstaff, the unlikely hero of UK’s infected blood scandal
Sir Brian Langstaff, the unexpected protagonist in the UK's infected blood scandal, emerged as a pivotal figure seeking justice.
The softly spoken former judge turned around the room, which included many victims dressed in red T-shirts bearing slogans such as “infected blood, dying for justice”, and asked them to applaud everyone who contributed to the report and shared their stories.
It’s this humility that has characterized his approach to the inquiry. Langstaff rejected having the inquiry named after him, preferring instead to keep the focus on the victims.
Victims and families have praised him for his compassion, and for his willingness to hold those in power to account for their role in the scandal.
The final report is not the first time he has done so. When Rishi Sunak, appeared before the inquiry, Langstaff received a round of applause from the audience for directly challenging him on delays to the compensation scheme.
Langstaff urged the prime minister to do anything he could “to reassure them, preferably by actions rather than by words – but either will do – actions preferably, that there will be the compensation which is just and fair and it will be delivered as soon as possible. Because if it troubles my conscience, I would think it would trouble the conscience of a caring government, and you have said that’s what you would wish to be.”
Langstaff has been working full-time on the inquiry since 2018, retiring from his role in the high court, to which he was appointed in 2005. There he had served as president of the employment appeal tribunal between 2012 and 2018.
It’s not the first health-related public inquiry Langstaff has been involved in. He worked on the Bristol Royal Infirmary inquiry, set up in 1998 to investigate the deaths of 29 babies undergoing heart surgery in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
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