The Foreign Office's chief civil servant has said that the UK not participating in EU wide PPE procurement was "a political decision".
Foreign Office Permanent Under Secretary Sir Simon McDonald told the Foreign Affairs committee that ministers were briefed about opportunities but decided not to take part.
The EU scheme, which is organised by the European Commission, has been organised in several rounds and has covered ventilators and PPE.
Initially Sir Simon told MPs on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee that it was because Britain had left the EU. But challenged by Labour MP Chris Bryant that the UK was still eligible to take part, Sir Simon said: "All I can say is that we have not taken part." Asked about the process of making that