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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Ben Quinn Political correspondent

Boris Johnson considered ‘raid’ on vaccine plant in the Netherlands

Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson was said to be ‘enraged’ that EU officials were moving towards limiting exports of coronavirus vaccines to the UK in 2021. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters

Boris Johnson’s appearance before the Covid-19 inquiry is not until Wednesday but it is already making headlines in the Netherlands amid a mixture of amusement and alarm at claims he asked for British spies to plan a “raid” on a Dutch vaccine plant.

The operation – according to sources who briefed Johnson’s employer, the Daily Mail – would have taken place against the backdrop of a tit-for-tat row in March 2021 between the then prime minister and the EU, which was moving towards restricting exports of vaccines across the Channel.

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