Britain’s top diplomat: UK opt out of EU ventilator scheme was ‘political’

Boris Johnson’s spokesperson had claimed the UK didn’t jointly procure equipment with the EU because of a communication problem.

LONDON — Britain’s decision not to join an EU procurement scheme to buy equipment needed to tackle coronavirus was a “political” choice, one of the country’s top civil servants told MPs on Tuesday.

Asked at the House of Commons’ foreign affairs select committee about the policy advice given to ministers over the collective sourcing of ventilators and protective equipment for health care professionals, Simon McDonald, head of the diplomatic service at the Foreign Office, said: “It was a political decision.”

The U.K. mission to the EU had “briefed ministers about what was available, what was on offer, and the decision is known,” he said.

However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock later appeared to contradict McDonald’s claim. When asked about the comments at Downing Street’s daily press conference, Hancock said: “As far as I am aware there was no political decision not to participate in that scheme. We did receive the invitation in the Department of Health … it was put up to me to be asked and we joined so we are now members of that scheme.”

“However, as far as we know that scheme hasn’t delivered a single item of PPE [personal protective equipment for health care workers],” he added.

Following Hancock’s comments at the press conference, foreign affairs committee chair Tom Tugendhat tweeted that he had received a letter from McDonald withdrawing his comment. The letter stated that due to a “misunderstanding,” McDonald’s assertion that not participating in the EU scheme was a political choice was “incorrect.”

“The facts of the situation are as previously set out,” the letter read, adding that “owing to an initial communication problem” the U.K. missed the chance to participate in the first four joint COVID-19 EU procurement schemes. McDonald added that the “health secretary has set out the government’s position on this going forward.”

When it was reported last month that the U.K. has not taken part in the EU scheme, Downing Street claimed it had missed the deadline because of a communication problem. The prime minister’s spokesperson had initially said the government had not taken part because the U.K. was “no longer a member [of the EU]” and was “making our own efforts” but later said the U.K. missed the deadline because it did not receive an invitation from the European Commission in time.

This article has been updated with Simon McDonald’s statement withdrawing his comments.