Memo from Stephen Bowden Assistant Private Secretary to Mr A J C Edwards re. Haemophiliacs and HIV. Described a telephone conversation between the Chief Secretary and the Secretary of State for Health on 22101990 which agreed that there were no grounds for offering an out of court settlement and no offers should be made by the Gov under any circumstances. Mr Clarke suggested a settlement of 20 or 25 million with a guarantee that the writs would be dropped however the Chief Secretary suggested it was better to win the case in court and make an offer on an ex gratia basis. Both agreed that some cases against health authorities were very strong and should be presented as negligence cases and that the issue would not be raised at Cabinet. The PES issue was not raised.