Vocal Voices

During my morning scan of the ongoing spats over vaccines, threats, warnings, including the Pfizer warning that without the exports from Yorkshire, that their vaccine production would dry up in a few short weeks; I came across a FT article about how the UK recognised it was a world leader in tech but nowhere in manufacturing capability.

The steps taken by the UK are quite interesting and mainly unreported. The FT article is here, it is pay walled but should be good for a single click.

Croda chemicals. Used to have a plant in Knottingley. Their HQ is now out towards Goole.
I think globalism seems to work as long as national intrest isn't threatened. When it is things very quickly go wrong.

A bit of a non-story on a slow news day? It is full of 'ifs', 'buts', 'coulds' and 'maybes' as carried by the Mail, Express, Sun and Telegraph: who else!

On the 10th of March Johnson stood up at PMQ and made a statement to the House in response to European Council President Charles Michel's claim that the UK had imposed an "outright ban" on the export of Covid-19 vaccines thus:

"Let me be clear: we have not blocked the export of a single Covid-19 vaccine or vaccine components."

He either told the truth or he misled parliament. I'll go with truth.

Croda, meanwhile said it was planning to quadruple the capacity of its UK factory to meet demand.

Time for all the willy-whanging to stop and for us all to pull together.

Not so fussed about that.

Much more interested in the UK government steps to re home vaccine manufacture, the millions paid out in support, the fact that AZ had 0 capability to manufacture in the UK or that 4 out of the 8 manufacturers the UK approached to produce the vaccines for the UK expressed interest in building capability to manufacture in the UK.

Also that generic manufacturing capability was already being built in the UK since 2018 to make the UK manufacturing independent for the flu jab.

None of which I had seen reported elsewhere.

This capability being delivered is not just for covid, but for the long term.

It is part of what you, WM, want the UK to do; namely start making stuff again.

I thought it was worth repeating and commenting on.

The rest is just politicking.