A GP and former MP has said the UK government reaction to coronavirus made it "a lot harder for ourselves".

Dr Phillip Lee said he did not understand the logic of choosing “to delay for so long” over buying ventilators and the need the action.

The former Lib Dem MP, who was first elected as a Conservative, said a previous exercise showed the “challenges” of a pandemic, and it does “beggar belief why we did not act quicker”.

Downing Street says the first batch of 30 new ventilators produced by a consortium of companies will be delivered this weekend, with 'hundreds more' to follow in the coming weeks.