Ukraine volunteer claims MP stole idea to donate ventilators - to divert them to Cuba

A retired policeman who says he wanted to help send British ventilators to Ukraine has accused an MP of stealing his idea so they can instead be sent to Cuba.

Steve Eccleshall says he wrote to Labour's Steve Witherden to ask for help to secure the release of 40 unused ventilators from Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

But a letter from Witherden dated three days after Eccleshall's request appears to show the MP making a similar request to Wrexham's health board - but asking that the machines be donated to the Caribbean nation.

Some of the passages in the two letters make the same points, and Eccleshall has accused Witherden of plagiarising him.

Witherden has not returned requests for comment.

Eccleshall is a volunteer with Driving Ukraine, a charity which delivers vehicles and equipment to the country, where he is currently working.

In a complaint to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, Eccleshall said he met the Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr MP as well as then-Welsh Parliament member Russell George on 6 February, near the Welsh border in Powys.

He said at a meeting, which included members of Bausley with Criggion Community Council where Eccleshall is also a clerk, he presented Witherden and George with his letter, explaining that he was seeking the release of about 40 ventilators.

He said the ventilators had been provided during the Covid pandemic, but because of compatibility problems had never been used.

The retired policeman said Witherden shook his hand and congratulated him on taking aid to Ukraine, offering to see what he could do.

But the volunteer subsequently learned that Witherden had made his own request by letter – via an NHS source who gave Eccleshall a copy.

The letter says the MP is writing in his capacity as chairperson for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Cuba, and was dated on 9 February, three days after the alleged meeting with Eccleshall.

Cuba has been under US blockade since 1960, which US President Donald Trump has tightened since he returned to the White House. Witherden is involved with a solidarity campaign for the Communist-led country.

Witherden's letter said Trump's policy of seeking to prevent oil being shipped to Cuba had "worsened a humanitarian crisis", and that he had learned that the country was in need of medical supplies when he visited the country last October.

Both letters, seen by BBC Wales, make similar points.

Both say the 40 ventilators are in a shipping container, that they are not compatible with Wrexham Maelor's systems and were supplied at the start of the pandemic by the Welsh government.

Eccleshall told BBC Wales: "There's a trust aspect - you are my MP, I've come to you with an idea. You said you'll help me, and within three days you've stolen it.

"Even if he turned around on day one and said 'look, sorry, I've got a competing interest', I wouldn't have been happy.

"But there wasn't much I could do about it. But to actually steal the whole concept and not say anything, I think is just dishonest."

In his complaint to the Parliamentary standards commissioner, Eccleshall said he believed Witherden's request had put Betsi Cadwaladr health board in an "unenviable position" .

"The people of Ukraine and Cuba both lose out because of Witherden's duplicity and dishonesty," he said in the complaint.

In a statement the health board confirmed it had "received requests for the medical equipment in question to be considered for donation to Ukraine and Cuba".

"We are currently assessing the financial and governance implications of any potential donation as the items are currently valued as assets of the health board," it said.

"We will contact the Welsh government following our internal review of these requests."

The health board confirmed that the ventilators were in a storage container and could not be used, although said that the ophthalmic equipment requested is being considered for clinical use.

A Welsh government spokesperson confirmed it would need approval was required to donate the assets, and that no formal request had been received from the health board.