[Margaret Pilkington]

Cashy, I used to be on a product user group (I know it is a while ago now).
This group of nurses would give feedback on the products we were expected to use....stuff that the procurement officer was planning to accept tenders from.....I can tell you that sometimes just a couple of coins would decide yes or nay.
Yes the products were supplied by companies located in the U.K...well, until China muscled in.
China has created this huge crisis....a world crisis....and who do you think will profit from this crisis?
It will not be the UK.
When you rely on stuff from the other side of the world...and a country that supplies the world, then you are asking for trouble....because as you say in this situation we cannot expect first dibs at anything.
If things had been different and loyalty to UK suppliers had been kept, then these suppliers would have jumped to attention and we would have the stuff we needed, locally sourced, giving work to people who live and pay their taxes in the UK.