The ‘chancer’ of the Dutchy of Lancaster, Micheal Gove has announced that the UK government is to set up a series of PPE production lines in cooperation with manufacturers throughout the UK.
Today, Gove announced that the production of face coverings has already begun at 2 sites in England and Wales, and another site in Scotland will start production soon. The announcement goes on to say that ‘government has procured 10 production lines’ and that ‘a further 10 production lines are being made’ with support from the government. (We are unsure if this means we have 20 production lines, or just 10?).
Todays statement claims that manufacturers will produce millions of masks each week! Michael Gove said: “These production lines will be able to get millions of face coverings to the public, without putting any additional pressure on NHS supply chains.
“It is fantastic to see companies in Lancashire, Neath Port Talbot and West Lothian coming together to provide face coverings for every corner of our United Kingdom.”
The government statement contained comments from the Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack, and the State for Scotland for Wales Simon Hart both gave glowing praise for the projects. It is unclear if any of the PPE made within the devolved nations will be used in their home nations, or distributed elsewhere around the UK.
This is, as government state, the first time face coverings have been needed and manufactured on such a scale in the UK. Government have stated that orders for face coverings have been placed by ‘a number of public and private sector buyers’; and that they are in discussions with retailers on buying additional items.
UK Government currently has well over 5 Billion items of PPE in storage and has issued ‘private procurement contracts’ worth hundreds of millions of pounds for PPE, from companies who have no history in making or selling PPE. Could government be buying too much PPE?
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