MP Accused of Betraying Ukraine Ventilator Plan

0:00On April 29th, a retired British cop named Steve Eccleshal is calling out Labour MP, Steve Witherden, for allegedly swiping his plan to ship 40. Unused ventilators from a Welsh hospital to Ukraine. Eccleshal, volunteering with a charity called Driving Ukraine, reached out to the MP for help getting the machines released from Rexham Mailer, hospital. But instead, Witherden requested them for Cuba just three days later. Eccleshal says he met Witherden and another politician near the Welsh border on February 6th. The MP shook his hand, praised his Ukraine aid work and promised support. Yet on February 9th, Witherden wrote his own letter to the health board as chair of a parliamentary group on Cuba, using nearly identical wording about the ventilator sitting unused in a container since the pandemic. Eccleshal feels totally betrayed, like his trust in his own MP got shattered. He filed a formal complaint with a parliamentary standards commissioner, arguing it left the

1:00health board in a tough spot and short-changed both. Ukraine and Cuba. The MP hasn't responded to requests for comment. Meanwhile, the Betsy Cadwala Dre Health Board confirmed they received requests for the gear to go to Ukraine or Cuba. They're reviewing the financial and legal side since the ventilators count as assets, and some related eye equipment might even get reused locally. The Welsh government says any donation needs their green light, but no official ask has come through yet. With needs piling up in conflict zones and under blockades, it'll be interesting to see where these machines end up landing.