London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

‘I couldn’t possibly comment’: Ex-vaccine minister fans flames after media reports France stole 5mn Covid shots from UK

‘I couldn’t possibly comment’: Ex-vaccine minister fans flames after media reports France stole 5mn Covid shots from UK

Britain’s education secretary, formerly the vaccine minister until a recent reshuffle, has refused to deny reports that France stole as many as five million Covid-19 vaccines from the UK earlier this year.
Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, Britain’s former vaccine minister, Nadhim Zahawi, was coy on whether France had stabbed the UK in the back by redirecting Covid-19 vaccines meant for Britons.

“I couldn’t possibly comment,” Zahawi said with a smile and a chuckle when asked by Sky’s Niall Paterson about the reports which had appeared in The Sun a day earlier. Pushed by the presenter to divulge more, Zahawi said, as everyone knows, Britain had a “challenging situation with the EU Commission,” but then took a tangent to praise the work of the UK’s vaccine taskforce.

Late Tuesday night, The Sun reported that France had swiped almost five million vaccines from Britain in what they branded a “post-Brexit tantrum.”

Citing unnamed Tory ministers, the paper said that on March 22, several million vaccines doses were expected to arrive in the UK from the Halix manufacturing plant in Holland.

However, the shots never turned up as they were redirected at the eleventh hour to help the EU and France’s stuttering inoculation campaign. The Sun claimed that the minister said France’s actions could easily have cost lives in the UK, and likened Paris’ actions to that of a “hostile state” rather than “the behaviour of a close ally.”

France has not provided any comments on the matter so far.

Britain and the EU engaged in a number of rows over vaccines earlier this year, as the UK’s vaccination campaign vastly outpaced those on the continent.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×