Fifty years. Three thousand deaths. Thirty thousand infected with contaminated blood. That is what it took to force the British governmentThe group of people who govern - or lead - the country. to admit to a deadly series of errors and lies.

Between the 1970s and 1990s, the NHSThe National Health Service, the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK. The NHS was founded in 1948. gave blood infected with serious diseases, including HIVA virus that damages your immune system. and hepatitisInflammation of the liver, usually caused by viral infections or liver damage caused by drinking alcohol. , to tens of thousands of patients. Many of them had haemophiliaA medical condition which prevents the blood from clotting as normal, meaning small injuries can cause severe bleeding. , and the blood was supposed to be part of their treatments. Now, a new report has found that the state tried to cover this up.

On Monday, British leader Rishi SunakA British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024. finally said sorry for the hurt caused by five decades of governments. He promised that the families of victims will be paid £10bn.

The problem is not just that this happened, experts say. It is the fact that the lies lasted for so long.

This is why some think this could be a huge problem for the country's political system. They say that society relies on trust in the state.

It is a debate that goes back hundreds of years. In the 1600s, John LockeA 17th Century English philosopher, known as the "father of liberalism". argued that all governments are based on trust. He said people put their trust in the government to protect their rights.

Another thinker, Thomas HobbesAn English philosopher who is regarded as one of the founders of modern political theory., thought it was about fear, not trust. As people are afraid that others may hurt them in some way, they give the government the power to make laws and protect people's rights.

But when Locke and Hobbes were writing, the state was still quite small. Today the government is part of our whole lives - from schooling to health to housing.

The state is supposed to protect us, care for us when we are sick and feed us when we are hungry. And that means we have to have a lot more trust in it, because if it fails, our lives may be in danger.

Is this how society collapses?

Yes! If we cannot trust the government to do the right thing, we might have to take over. That means people making their own laws, having their own police and using violence to defend themselves.

No! The state is actually about fear, not trust. For as long as the state is more powerful than us, it will exist - no matter whether or not we trust it.