A top official has apparently backtracked on his earlier claim that the government's decision not to take part in the EU's PPE procurement scheme was "political".
Foreign Office Permanent Under Secretary Sir Simon McDonald told the Foreign Affairs committee earlier today that ministers were briefed about opportunities but decided not to take part.
But in a letter to the committee to "clarify" his comments, he later wrote: "Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, I inadvertently and wrongly told the committee that ministers were briefed by UKMIS (the UK Mission to the EU) on the EU's joint procurement agreement scheme and took a political decision not to participate in it.