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A document prepared as part of a briefing for a parliamentary question in the House of Lords repeated the line that donor screening for Hepatitis C could not have been implemented sooner and that a public inquiry was not justified.

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In her oral evidence to the Inquiry, Caroline Flint observed that advice and briefings she received "were very much sort of a 100 percent suggesting that there was no testing that could have been done before 1991".

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The Department of Health, in response to a "Wales on Sunday" story on renewed calls for a public inquiry, reiterated their position that donor screening for Hepatitis C could not have been implemented sooner.

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In her letter to Michael Connarty MP, Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Health, repeated the line that donor screening for Hepatitis C could not have been implemented sooner in response to a request for a public inquiry.

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A Department of Health communications official approved the following line to take: "We have great sympathy for those infected with Hepatitis C and HIV and have considered the call for a public inquiry very carefully. However, the Government of the day acted in good faith, relying on the technology available at that time and therefore we do not feel a public inquiry would provide any real benefit to those affected."

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In a letter to the Manor House Group, Caroline Flint again explained the rejection of a public inquiry by reference to the introduction of donor screening for Hepatitis C in 1991 "which could not have been implemented before this time".

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In a letter to the Haemophilia Society, Caroline Flint again explained the rejection of a public inquiry by reference to the introduction of donor screening for Hepatitis C in 1991 "which could not have been implemented before this time".

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The Department of Health's Customer Service Centre wrote to campaigner Sue Threakall adopting the line that the Government did not accept that any wrongful practices were employed, did not consider that a public inquiry is justified and that Hepatitis C screening could not have been implemented before 1991.

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A draft follow up letter from the Department of Health's Customer Service Centre to campaigner Sue Threakall contained a longer explanation, which included the line that "viral inactivation processes, heat treatment and screening tests were developed and introduced as soon as practicable."

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Caroline Flint approved the draft follow up letter from the Department of Health's Customer Service Centre to campaigner Sue Threakall containing a longer explanation, which included the line that "viral inactivation processes, heat treatment and screening tests were developed and introduced as soon as practicable."

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William Connon wrote to Dawn Primarolo, the Minister of State for Public Health, and to Lord Hunt in response to media reports of an announcement of a public inquiry. The lines to take included "the Government of the day acted in good faith, relying on the technology available at the time" and donor screening for Hepatitis C could not have been implemented sooner.

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In a letter to the Manor House Group, Dawn Primarolo, Minister of State for Public Health, repeated the line that donor screening for Hepatitis C could not have been implemented sooner and that "the Government of the day acted in good faith, relying on the technology available at the time."

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A briefing provided for Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Health, and Dawn Primarolo asserted that "as soon as technologies (heat treatment and testing) were available to improve safety, they were introduced."

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A briefing from the Secretary of State's Office for the Parliamentary Labour Party asserted that "Action was taken as soon as possible to introduce testing and safety measures for blood and blood products as these became available."

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In his statement to the Inquiry, Alan Johnson acknowledged that the High Court's 2001 finding that the UK should have introduced screening or surrogate testing earlier should have been reflected in the briefing dated 27 May 2009.

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The Archer Report found that "The United Kingdom delayed testing until a specific test (as opposed to a surrogate test) became available. Even then, although such a test was in use in Japan in 1989, and in the USA, Australia and most European countries in 1990, the United Kingdom delayed introduction until the product had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA, and it was not introduced into the United Kingdom until September 1991."

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In a letter to Lord Fraser QC, Tom Sackville at the Department of Health referred to those "inadvertently" infected with Hepatitis C through infected blood transfusions.

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A "Dear Doctor" letter from Dr Kenneth Calman referred to those "inadvertently" infected with Hepatitis C through infected blood transfusions.

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A "Hansard" written answer referred to those "inadvertently" infected with Hepatitis C through infected blood transfusions.

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A "Hansard" written answer used the line regarding "inadvertent" infection with Hepatitis C through blood transfusions.

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