Responding to the news that the government-funded Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) has been sold to the US firm Catalent, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “Selling this vital infrastructure is a ridiculously short-sighted move that risks leaving us less prepared for the next pandemic. Vaccines can take decades to develop and selling this facility shows this Conservative Government’s lack of long-term planning.
“This facility was purpose built with more than £200m worth of taxpayers’ money to produce vaccines. With this Government wasting eye-watering amounts of public money and writing off money spent fraudulently, the Tories must come clean on how much this facility has been sold for.
“The Prime Minister himself underlined how important this centre would be to protect against Covid and future pandemics. The public has a right to know why he has now changed his mind.
“The Government must be totally transparent about why this facility is being sold, for how much, and whether this will impact the UK’s resilience in the face of possible future pandemics.”