We need to identify and deliver key services and products which must be made and available within the UK in the event of foreseeable (though rare) crises and catastrophes on a much wider front than pandemics alone.
Covid-19, combined with Brexit, has shown how a combination of deferred decisions and a reliance on availability within the EU will not deliver what we need in times of extreme stress. A striking example arose through the UK no longer having any large scale immunisation production facility.
The challenge goes deeper than pandemic management (where lessons have been learned). We must find a way to identify, monitor and review implementation of a full range of critical supplies and services to pre-empt sufficiency in UK supply of our needs for times of catastrophe.
This pro-active approach can create multiple opportunities to resolve these issues either through traditional methods or through innovation which could benefit societies worldwide. We can expect job creation, technological innovation, backbones of new (or regenerated) industrial sectors as well as the long term benefits of greater security and protection for society as a whole.
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