Day 4 and still PPE flights farce goes on
RAF plane on runway waiting for Turkish cargo
DELAYS over a vital shipment of personal protective equipment from Turkey have spilled into a fourth day amid rising criticism of the operation.
An RAF transport jet sat idle at Istanbul airport yesterday, awaiting the life-saving cargo, amid claims the Government only made a formal request for the equipment after a Cabinet minister announced it was heading to the UK.
A total of 84 tons of medical supplies, including 400,000 gowns, were due for delivery by RAF jets on Sunday, according to Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson then said that he hoped the supplies would arrive on Monday; however, this also failed to materialise.
An RAF A400 transporter left Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Monday for Istanbul, where it was ‘pre-positioned’.
But it remained on the tarmac late last night as the PPE was taken through customs. An airport spokesman said it was due to depart by midnight, but the situation remained unclear.
An RAF source said: ‘We are simply the bus drivers. The bus is available, the drivers are available, we just need some passengers.’ A UK Government source said: ‘We were seeking assurance that the kit meets regulatory guidance.’
But Sky News reported that no formal request was made to the Turkish authorities until Sunday, and the private company supplying the goods only applied for permission to export on Monday.
Pictures showed the RAF A400 on the tarmac beside a Turkish Airlines passenger jet with little sign of loading.
The three RAF jets assigned to the job can each carry around 25 tons of equipment so it is unlikely the full load will be in Britain until late this afternoon at the earliest. The debacle was criticised by NHS Providers deputy chief executive, Saffron Cordery. She said: ‘We need to move away from a running commentary on individual consignments, and get to a sustainable and reliable long-term supply.’
The Government yesterday announced that it is working with 159 potential British manufacturers. A total of 140,000 protective gowns also arrived from Burma.
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