A top civil servant has U-turned after claiming ministers chose not to join an EU scheme to bulk buy medical equipment at the start of the coronavirus crisis.

Sir Simon McDonald, the Foreign Office’s permanent under secretary, said he made the claim "inadvertently and wrongly".

His original version of events had put major pressure on Downing Street, which has been accused of failing to "ramp up" stocks of ventilators and give NHS staff enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Image: Sir Simon McDonald said his original claim was 'incorrect'

Number 10 said last month as the pandemic unfolded the UK wasn't taking part in the scheme co-ordinated by Brussels because it is "no longer a member of the EU".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman was asked on 26 March if the country asked to join the scheme, which it is still entitled to despite Brexit.


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He said Whitehall is "doing our own work" to procure ventilators - a key machine for treating those with respiratory illnesses caused in severe cases of COVID-19.

The government then blamed an email mix-up, a spokesperson saying that "owing to an initial communication problem, the UK did not receive an invitation in time to join in four joint procurements in response to the coronavirus pandemic".

Image: Mr Johnson's spokesman said the UK wasn't joining because of Brexit

But Sir Simon seemed to reveal a different version of events when he told parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday: "It was a political decision."

Speaking via videolink, he told senior MPs: "The mission... in Brussels briefed ministers about what was available, what was on offer and the decision is known."

Just over an hour later, Health Secretary Matt Hancock directly denied the claim, saying at the daily Downing Street briefing: "As far as I'm aware there was no political decision not to participate in that scheme."

He then said that the UK had already joined the EU's procurement scheme - something not previously announced by the government - and that no PPE has been delivered through it yet.

Sir Simon was then forced to issue a climbdown, clarifying that he made the comments "inadvertently and wrong" and "due to a misunderstanding", adding his original version of events was "incorrect".

Chris Bryant, the Labour backbencher who extracted Sir Simon's original view, told Sky News "it's all nonsense - he's been leant on".

"The whole thing stinks of people trying to cover their tracks."

Image: Mr Hancock said no PPE has been delivered through the scheme yet

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth tweeted: "First we were told an email was missed, then we were told the decision not to take part was a political decision. Now we are told that the Government did sign up to the scheme.

"This is not a trivial matter. Ministers needs to explain what has happened."

MP Stewart McDonald, the SNP's defence spokesperson, said the "clarification is just not credible" and "raises more questions than it answers".