21 July 2022: Blears - C

As if it would have made any difference, there was the usual closing bit for core participant questions:

On the letter from Carol Grayson which she didn’t see, maybe she might have wanted to see it; she said she knew of Ms Grayson, and it might have been good for her to see it, especially with the new material the witness had never before known about, but it didn’t change her mind about the situation (… no, this writer doesn’t know why the witness does not see the tautological inadequacy of her thought process either, other than that of the automaton).

On the Haemophilia Society report and if she told the Society of her criticisms; she said she could not recall if she told the Society, or Mr Connarty, and there is no paperwork on it. She was pretty clear on the problems (… well it’s good to know at least one person’s clarity was pretty).

On whether any other group had used The Macfarlane Trust’s existence as a reason for special support for their cause; she said was not aware. (… And that’s the right way to end that sentence.)

On the comments she had made about the differences between HIV and non-A-non-B, including the period of the non-availability of treatments; she said she was aware, and even came out with some ill-informed urinary tract effluent to prove how useless her awareness had been.

On her having no knowledge or experience of the thresholds for holding a Public Inquiry and if she tried to find out about these; she said she did not know there were criteria to look for (… enough said).

On the questions raised in the Commons and Lords; she said it was an important aspect of democracy … blah, blah, blah.

The Chair was asked if he had any questions for the witness. He paused for dramatic effect then said, “No, I don’t think I do”. Sir Brian will be appearing at the Strand Comedy Club every Friday night in August.

The witness thanked Sir Brian and his team for the way the Inquiry is involving core participants centrally and throughout.

The Chair thanked the witness for her stamina, those listening too.

Note: anyone who reads this for the purposes of quickly catching up with the evidence of this witness might think it was not really worth much of their time. If so, please consider those, including the writer, who sat through the whole thing and will never get that time back to do something more life affirming.

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