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‘That wasn’t on the side of the bus’ – NHS to stockpile drugs and blood ahead of Brexit

Boris Johnson speaks during a Vote Leave EU referendum campaign event Photo: PA / Ben Birchall - Credit: PA

‘Vote Leave,’ they said. ‘It’ll be great,’ they said. ‘We will give £350m a week to the NHS,’ they said.

And the truth? Well, according to government plans to stockpile medicine, blood and even food are under way. Welcome to the sunlit uplands of Brexit folks.

The first warning came from the new health secretary, Matt Hancock who said the measures would be needed if there was a no-deal Brexit.

The revelation came as Hancock was interviewed by the Health Select Committee and is a far cry from what Brexit campaigners promised for the NHS in the event of a Leave vote.

Hancock said: ‘We are working right across government to ensure that the health sector and the industry are prepared and that people’s health will be safeguarded in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

‘This includes the chain of medical supplies, vaccines, medical devices, clinical consumables, blood products.

‘And I have asked the department to work up options for stockpiling by industry.

‘We are working with industry for the potential need for stockpiling in the event of a no-deal Brexit.’

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, meanwhile, told MPs that the government would also take steps to ensure an ‘adequate food supply’.

The revelations were a further insight into the chaos Brexit is wreaking in government. The comments attracted condemnation from across the political spectrum with more calls for a People’s Vote to avoid the disastrous consequences of Brexit.

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