BORIS Johnson reportedly ordered spies to plan a raid on a Dutch Covid vaccine factory after the EU put millions of doses at risk.
The 59-year-old former prime minister reportedly asked high-ranking spies to investigate “military options” to collect vaccines from an AstraZeneca factory in Leiden, Netherlands, in March 2021.
At the time, the European Commission threatened to block the shipment of doses to the UK as it struggled to roll out its vaccine against the Covid-19 pandemic.
A source was quoted as telling the Daily Mail: “The EU had basically sequestered 5million doses of our vaccine.
“He ordered officials to look at all the reaction characteristics, and that involved asking security to check if there were characteristics to physically go through and take the vaccines from the Netherlands and bring them here. “
Another added: “It went well beyond trade retaliation – it was diplomatic, security, everything.
“He felt he was fighting for British lives and at one point he did ask whether there were military options for just going and getting these vaccines.
“The EU movements were so competitive that it didn’t seem like such a crazy idea. “
The allocation was eventually scrapped after mandarins warned it would cause foreign tensions and could damage the source of vaccines from other EU factories.
This included an even larger batch of Pfizer vaccines manufactured on the continent.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she would possibly block vaccine exports so that “Europe gets its fair share”, after AstraZeneca refused to divert materials from UK factories to EU states.
Whitehall officials were able to replace most of the Dutch vaccines with supplies from India, allowing the rollout in the UK to continue at speed.
Johnson is expected to mention this common episode when he appears before the Covid inquiry this week.
He also expressed anger at the EU’s handling of the situation and defended key decisions made through his government.
He would refer to a case where the Commission threatened to impose border controls on Ireland to prevent EU-made vaccines from entering Northern Ireland.
Johnson reportedly had a “furious” phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron over the matter.
The former prime minister is also expected to insist that his administration “made the right decisions” during the pandemic, not only with vaccines but also with the opening up of society after the last of several lockdowns.
But it will also acknowledge the pain through the death toll in the UK, which has officially surpassed 230,000, the Mail suggests.
Johnson is expected to respond to allegations made by his former assistant to the leader, Dominic Cummings, that he behaved “like a car”.
He will discuss his handling of the pandemic at the inquiry on Wednesday and Thursday.
A best friend of the former prime minister told The Sun on Sunday: “The cars in question were cars full of vaccines that Boris helped deliver to the UK.
“Boris replaced his brain when clinical recommendation replaced him; Experts continued to adapt their brains to the subjects. “
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is due to testify at Christmas.
A spokesman for Johnson declined to comment on the claims.
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