Forum Topic

Halix - UK €25M, EU €0.00

Picked up by a couple of UK papers, ignored by the BBC that I’ve seen. The UK invested £21M in the Halix factory. The EU and the Dutch were approached and invested none. Early investment meant it could produce at scale.https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2021/03/dutch-had-chance-to-invest-in-leiden-vaccine-maker-halix-nos/ “ The Halix plant in the Netherlands, on which Britain took a multi-million pound gamble last April The letter from the University of Oxford was meant as a clear warning to Europe. Back our vaccine factory, the British scientists said, or face the consequences....”https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/01/inside-vaccine-factory-tug-war-uk-puts-21m-eu-says-non-exports/

Russell Pearson ● 2033d10 Comments

Hughie and Clark will be choking on their cornflakes but will be here soon to put their usual spin on matters

Paul Fisher ● 2033d

Either that, or dropping their marmalade toasties.Reports both here and abroad, on Macron’s singular role to save his bacon roll “Macron's turmoil at home threatens the EU project”https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/04/02/macrons-turmoil-home-threatens-eu-project/

Russell Pearson ● 2033d

RP > "The EU and the Dutch were approached and invested none."Looking at the source for this information (Nederlandse Omroep Stichting), it states that the Dutch were approached, but it makes no mention of the EU?

John Whitworth ● 2033d

From the BBCFrench President Emmanuel Macron is coming under growing pressure over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.The country is entering its third national lockdown on Saturday as steadily rising infections threaten to overwhelm hospitals.As the curbs are introduced, Mr Macron's critics say that his decision back in January to overrule scientists and not launch the third lockdown then was a blunder. The president has also been blamed for the slow pace of France's vaccine rollout.The BBC's Ros Atkins looks at how Mr Macron is coping, with statistics all going in the wrong direction..Footnote: aren’t the Dutch in the EU, and failed to alert their fellow members .

Bernard Allen ● 2033d

Yep,they just want to block others getting what they paid for and now  it seems invested in becasue they insist those with empty hands should be at the front of the queue while the cudboards sat with out of date botles due to stop start maybe rules within

Julian Pavey ● 2033d

The EU agrees that they didn’t spend a Euro“ On Thursday night, an EU official told The Telegraph: "We have checked for any EU funding possibly given to Halix under EU financial instruments but could not identify any support. This does not prejudge any national funding given by member states."Downing Street believes the UK's initial investment into the Halix factory entitles it to a share of the five million doses the plant can now produce every month. On top of the crucial cash injection, British engineers travelled to Halix over Christmas to improve production at the plant. ”

Russell Pearson ● 2033d

RP > "The EU agrees that they didn’t spend a Euro"Fine.But I can still see no evidence that the EU was approached for investment as you claimed in your first post.

John Whitworth ● 2033d

He's just trolling for a reaction.

Basil Finnis ● 2033d

Last time I looked, Netherlands was part of the EU. "On April 30, Oxford announced its partnership with the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to produce its vaccine. The Dutch government did try to sign a deal with Halix, and the ministry of health spoke with the firm that day. Further talks were held on May 4. Halix eventually told the Dutch that their extra 10 million euros was "no longer an issue" because of the money flowing in from AstraZeneca. However, sources told NOS that the Dutch failed to contact the Oxford researchers who sent the letter. Had they done so, their investment would have been likely to have been accepted.If Mr Rutte had signed up alongside the UK, the Dutch may have been able to reserve extra doses for themselves and later for the EU once the bloc's joint vaccination strategy was set up in August, sources suggested."https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/01/inside-vaccine-factory-tug-war-uk-puts-21m-eu-says-non-exports/

Claire Moran ● 2033d

Basil’s faulty thinking is that he sees any criticism of the EU as trolling. We can only imagine his reaction, had the UK turned down an investment opportunity to develop vaccines, and were also at the back of the queue for orders. Not to mention, if the UK were then threatening to block exports, from the very same factory.

Russell Pearson ● 2032d