Richard Foord MP leads call for improved resilience to protect UK citizens

On the fifth anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Richard Foord, MP for Honiton & Sidmouth, will call on ministers to properly protect UK citizens from the impact of overseas malign governments, potential food and medicine shortages and a future pandemic.

Mr Foord said: “Five years ago this month, a pandemic erupted across the globe, throwing governments and societies into chaos, and causing over 200,000 deaths in the UK alone.

“A new pandemic is just one of the many threats facing the UK.”

There are few food reserves

Mr Foord explained: “The ‘just in time’ food supply chain leaves us alarmingly vulnerable to disruptions, as we witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic when supply chain issues led to empty supermarket shelves. There are very few food reserves and the risks are considerably greater when climate change and the degradation of prime agricultural land is considered.

Foreign governments pose an ongoing risk

“The historical lack of investment in our defence means that we are woefully underprepared for a potential war, both in terms of military equipment, personnel or for handling casualties.

“And it’s becoming ever more urgent to arm our children and indeed all our people, with the ability to determine false information from genuine facts, to avoid serious threats to our democracy.”

Referring to the risks of a new pandemic, Mr Foord added: “The Conservative government should have been prepared, it was explicitly informed what it needed to do. But ministers ignored official advice and a series of disastrous decisions followed. This sort of carelessness with people’s lives must never be repeated.”

Senior doctors and health managers have said that this month is a critical time for the NHS. That pressures have never been so great and there is a chronic shortage of beds.

Devon’s NHS is particularly challenged as it has been forced to slash services due to a £200m deficit. This month there is set to be a (mitigated) shortfall of over 500 acute hospital beds across the county.

Today, Mr Foord will call on ministers to:

• commit to implementing the UK COVID-19 Inquiry’s recommendations to strengthen our emergency preparedness
• prioritise a national food security plan to ensure resilience against climate change and supply chain disruption
• outline what steps the Government will take to develop a comprehensive strategy to counter hybrid threats