by Lamiat Sabin
Parliamentary Reporter

BRITAIN’S two biggest airlines have been paid more than £123 million to import personal protection equipment (PPE) from China during the pandemic, the Morning Star can reveal.

Contracts show that the Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC) spent almost £68m on British Airways Boeing 787 flights and more than £55m on Virgin flights since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The revelation has intensified trade-union calls for the government to form a strategy to build a strong domestic manufacturing base to make PPE, vaccine vials, and support the creation of more jobs.