Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Carden Excerpts

Tuesday 12th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

12. What steps he is taking to expedite the import of essential medical products during the Covid-19 outbreak.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

13. What steps he is taking to expedite the import of essential medical products during the Covid-19 outbreak.

[The Minister for Trade Policy (Greg Hands)]

We continue to work tirelessly to secure vital supplies of medical equipment from overseas partners to meet UK demand. Hundreds of millions of units of PPE have been procured and over 2,000 ventilators have arrived in the UK thanks to our trade and FCO networks.

[Greg Hands]

That is a very good question and I thank the hon. Gentleman for asking it. We are working tirelessly, at different international fora, to ensure that trade barriers—either long-standing barriers or ones that have been thrown up as a result of the crisis—are reduced or removed. For example, just last month, at the UK’s initiative, the G20 Trade Ministers met and discussed a lot of these and took significant action. We have also been lobbying bilaterally, most successfully, with India to ensure that such barriers are reduced or removed.

[Dan Carden [V]]

It is shameful that our national stockpile of PPE dwindled during years of austerity. The Government’s response since has been one of confusion and panic—missing three chances to join the EU scheme to bulk buy PPE, and with the recent fiasco of flying in unusable gowns from Turkey. What discussions are Ministers having with the Governments of New Zealand, Singapore and other WTO countries to support global efforts to keep medical supply chains running during and beyond this crisis?

[Greg Hands]

We are extremely active at the WTO and other forums, including the G20, to ensure that products flow. We have delivered 1.22 billion items of PPE to the NHS, which is a tremendous achievement. That includes 40 million safety goggles and 1.3 billion face masks; the numbers are substantial. On the action that we are taking at the WTO, we continue to lobby at all levels. May I just correct the hon. Gentleman on one point—about the delivery of 400,000 Turkish gowns? That number represents a tiny proportion of the total, and only a tiny proportion of those gowns were actually found to be defective. We are very thankful to Turkish suppliers for what they have done.

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[Paula Barker (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab)]

What support his Department is providing for veterans during the covid-19 outbreak.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

What support his Department is providing for veterans during the covid-19 outbreak.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

What support his Department is providing for veterans during the covid-19 outbreak.