A HAEMOPHILIAC infected with HIV in the ‘Tainted Blood’ scandal has branded the Government 'a disgrace' for refusing to pay compensation.

John Smith (not his real name) will get just £90 a year to pay for his prescriptions in a £130million package of support for victims.

Mr Smith contracted the disease and HIV when given contaminated blood to treat haemophilia, a rare inherited disorder which means blood does not clot properly.

One of the worst treatment disasters in NHS history, the blunders in the 1970s and 1980s has since led to almost 2,000 deaths. Some 4,670 people were infected with Hepatitis C and 1,243 of those got HIV.

This week the Government announced that patients with Hepatitis C who develop serious liver conditions will now see their lump sum payments double from £25,000 to £50,000, with a new annual payment of £12,800.

The ex-gratia scheme will include posthumous payments to the families of Hepatitis C sufferers who died before August 29, 2003.

But people like Mr Smith will simply get £90 a year to pay his prescriptions because he has not yet developed serious liver problems.

The 56-year-old man from Blackburn, said: “I am disgusted.

“If you compare it to the outcome of the southern Ireland case, where patients received £350,000 on average. It’s just a farce."

Mr Smith said the fight for compensation was not over.

He said: “They have still not admitted liability. This is not justice.”

An independent inquiry recommended that payments in the UK should match those in the Republic of Ireland.

But this was ruled out by the Government, which claimed such a scheme could cost more than £3billion.

Mr Lansley told MPs there was a fundamental legal difference between the situation in Ireland, where blame was admitted by the authorities, and the UK.

He said: “In this country we are not providing compensation, we are literally recognising the harm that has occurred."