Exclusive: Britain ready to help out EU on Covid vaccines

Nadhim Zahawi says focus now on 'collaboration' with bloc, adding that Britain has helped Brussels with production problems

Nadhim Zahawi said the UK and EU have to be united against the common enemy of Covid
Nadhim Zahawi said the UK and EU have to be united against the common enemy of Covid Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley

Britain stands ready to help the EU with its vaccination crisis, the vaccines minister said after Brussels abandoned its threat to block supplies at the border.

In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Nadhim Zahawi said the focus is now on "collaboration" with the EU, adding that Britain has gone "out of our way" to help Brussels with its production problems and "will continue to do so".

The Government drew a line under the extraordinary diplomatic row over vaccine exports on Saturday after the EU promised Britain that it would not stop supplies from Pfizer's Belgium factory reaching the UK.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, was forced into a humiliating about-turn during a phone call with Boris Johnson over threats to impose a "vaccine border" on the island of Ireland.

Ministers were forced to draw up a secret plan to retaliate and protect Britain's vaccine supplies when they found out about the EU's plan to impose controls on exports from Europe and invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol on Friday night.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, was forced into an about-turn over threats to impose a 'vaccine border' on the island of Ireland
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, was forced into an about-turn over threats to impose a 'vaccine border' on the island of Ireland Credit: AFP via Getty Images

The Telegraph has learnt that a six-page document, looking at everything from abandoning food checks to threatening legal action, was prepared as the crisis developed.

Potential measures ranged from extending a six-month grace period on health checks for chilled meat products imported into Northern Ireland from Great Britain to taking legal action against the European Commission. The Government's vaccine task force even reportedly looked at using airlifts to protect Britain's vaccine supply in the event of an EU blockade.

One Government source said: "There were a variety of things set out that were not needed. Things moved very rapidly. There was a paper drawn up with actions to respond, but thankfully it all got stood down."

The options were discussed at a meeting in the Cabinet room at Number 10 on Friday night with the Prime Minister, his chief of staff Dan Rosenfeld,, Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, Lord Frost, Mr Johnson's former Brexit adviser, and Oliver Lewis, a policy adviser.

A senior Downing Street source confirmed that options on how to respond were discussed, although they were not committed to paper at the meeting. The source said: "There was a conversation around 'if we need to do something in response, what should it be?'"

Despite the EU's promise not to disrupt supplies to Britain, under its new rules all vaccine suppliers will have to seek authorisation of their exports from the bloc. That could mean vaccines destined for Britain could still be stopped at a later stage if the EU changes its mind.

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At one point the dispute had even threatened EU relations with the White House, which has taken a keen interest in the Northern Ireland peace process since Joe Biden became president. One minister said of the border threat: "The Irish did not know about it. The Irish government, ourselves and the US government – everyone was shocked." 

Sources in Northern Ireland said on Saturday that "the Irish diplomatic corps were in full operation in London, Brussels and Washington".

The Telegraph has learnt that the White House spent Friday night seeking clarity on the EU's export controls, with some in Mr Biden's team concerned about what any restriction could mean for deliveries to the US. 

Mrs Von der Leyen, meanwhile, faced criticism from the German media, which accused her of shifting the blame for the fiasco on to the drug companies.

On Saturday night Mark Francois, the chairman of the European Research Group of Conservative MPs, urged Mr Johnson to use the row to review the Northern Ireland Protocol and "iron out its operational problems". Writing in The Telegraph, he said this could lead the UK to "even consider replacing it entirely".

However, Number  10 made it clear on Saturday that it wanted to move on. One source said: "We have to now take it at face value that they are going to let the vaccine through, and we will work on that basis."

Mr Zahawi said he had "a good line of sight for supplies to deliver on our target for mid-February" to offer jabs to the 14.9 million most at-risk Britons. Looking further ahead, he said he was "very confident" of longer-term supplies through to the end of March despite the protests from Brussels.

The UK and EU have to be united against the common enemy of Covid, Mr Zahawi said, adding: "I don't think this is a Brexit issue. This is about making sure that we protect the most vulnerable. It's a race against death in many ways."

He pointed to the UK sending engineers to the Halix plant in the Netherlands, which makes the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, to help with supply problems last month, saying: "This is about collaboration, which is why we went out of our way to help with the production challenges in Holland that they were facing before Christmas and will continue to do so."

Separately, Mr Gove spoke with Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president and his opposite number on the UK-EU joint committee, on Saturday, with the pair expected to speak regularly in the coming weeks. Mr Gove said the EU had acknowledged it made a mistake in triggering Article 16 and agreed a "reset" on relations was needed. 

"We want to work with our friends and neighbours in the European Union. We recognise some of the difficulties and the pressures they face. But the decision yesterday to trigger Article 16, that was a mistake and that's been acknowledged," he said.

"Now we can move on and we can ensure that the issues which the people of Northern Ireland are legitimately concerned about can be addressed. I've spoken to the European Commission vice-president about this, and we both agree that we need a reset and put the people of Northern Ireland first."

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