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Downing Street vetoes access to EU pandemic warning system.

Matt Hancock’s department wanted to retain membership of the Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) as part of the EU-UK future relationship deal, but No 10 said “no”, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

Senior health advisers warned that exiting the EWRS, which has helped coordinate the response to the virus and played a vital role during the bird flu outbreak, would put public health at risk.

However, the British negotiating team, which reports to Boris Johnson, did not want to blur the UK’s request for a basic, Canada-style trade deal, it is claimed. Every add-on requested by the UK would risk giving the EU leverage to demand post-Brexit alignment.

This is a local plague, for local people.