Here we go again. The government has changed its story about the EU procurement scheme repeatedly over the last few weeks. Here are all the twists and turns...
March 19: reports start emerging that the government is ignoring an EU procurement scheme for ventilators and PPE. The EU confirms we're eligible to take part.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
March 26: a Downing Street spokesman says we didn't take part because we're "no longer a member" and were "making our own efforts". This doesn't go down well, as the PM is accused of "putting Brexit before breathing".
politicshome.com/news/article/p…
politicshome.com/news/article/p…
March 26: the PM's spokesman hastily back pedals and uses the "dog ate my homework" excuse, claiming they didn't join it because they missed the emails.
theguardian.com/world/2020/mar…
theguardian.com/world/2020/mar…
March 30: it turns out a British official took part in four EU meetings where the procurement plan was discussed. Even if they missed the emails and the news stories, they must have ignored the official's reports too. 🙄
google.com/amp/s/amp.theg…
google.com/amp/s/amp.theg…
April 14: as shortages get worse, a minister claims the EU scheme wasn't worth joining. The govt "made an assessment that joining the schemes wasn't going to make any particular difference to the procurement of PPE". Implying they chose not to join in.
lbc.co.uk/radio/presente…
lbc.co.uk/radio/presente…
April 21: one of the Foreign Office's top officials tells MPs it was a "political decision" not to join the scheme. Diplomats "briefed ministers about what was available, what was on offer, and the decision is 'no'".
politico.eu/article/britai…
politico.eu/article/britai…
April 21: a government spokesman has apparently said that the official will release a "clarification" reversing his claim, but 3 hours later there's still no sign of that happening.
April 21: the Health Secretary says he's not aware of any political decision not to join, but adds to confusion by saying "We did receive an invitation .. and it was put up to me to be asked and we joined so we are now members of that scheme". Erm, what?
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
April 21: the EU confirms Matt Hancock is, in fact, talking bollocks. We didn't sign up to any of the EU procurement schemes, but we're still welcome to join future rounds if we want to.
theguardian.com/world/2020/apr…
theguardian.com/world/2020/apr…
Meanwhile the EU procurement scheme is expected to start delivering £1.3bn pounds worth of PPE to 25 countries in the coming days, while the UK is still struggling to provide doctors and nurses with enough gowns. Not joining doesn't look so clever now... 🤨
And the correction has finally appeared. And is about as convincing as you'd expect. Apparently everything he said was wrong. His department didn't brief ministers and no decision was made. It's back to the lost emails story again. I call bullshit.
Even @bbclaurak seems unconvinced by the retraction. She's reporting that working with the EU was discussed in Cobra meetings but having anything to do with the EU was considered a "dilemma".
Full story here. Mix of toeing the party line (suggesting we didn't miss out by not taking part, when the PPE scheme is about to start delivering just when we need it the most) and confirming politics was raised in discussions about working with the EU.
bbc.com/news/amp/uk-po…
bbc.com/news/amp/uk-po…
April 22: Hancock's wrong. We've not joined existing schemes, and although it's "been suggested by anonymous government officials that the UK is now part of a procurement of products required for vaccines, no such new procurements have yet been launched"
