Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington, has called for a parliamentary debate on the closure of the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory in Leamington Spa, which facilitated mass Covid testing. 

Located at Precision Park on Juno Drive, the state-of-the-art 'mega lab' was opened in June 2021 to process Covid-19 tests at the height of the pandemic. 

It was the largest testing centre of its kind in the UK, processing around 8.5 million tests during its operation.

Despite assurances that the site would continue to function beyond the pandemic, testing operations ceased in January 2023. 

The site was later listed for sale on Rightmove. 

Raising the issue in Parliament yesterday, Western expressed his frustration over what he sees as a missed opportunity to continue administering 'more general testing.'

"We were promised the facility would be retained after the pandemic for more general testing," he said.

"Sadly it was unceremoniously put up for sale on Rightmove a couple of years ago.

"Can I ask the Leader of the House if we can have a debate into the provision of diagnostic testing more generally in this country."

Western later commented that he had consistently questioned the long-term value of the £600 million project, which he compared to the cost of "building 30 new primary schools."

He added: "I was told that, post-pandemic, it would morph into a permanent diagnostics centre" and that 2,000 jobs would be created.

"Hmmm... what we see today is that it has long ceased operating, and in 2023 it appeared on Rightmove! 

"You couldn't make it up."

He continued to criticise the government's wider pandemic spending: "The cessation of the laboratory is just one of the examples of the serious waste we saw during the pandemic.

"Whether it be the millions wasted on unusable PPE or this laboratory closer to home, they threw our money around like it was nothing.

"We were in a crisis, but our money still deserved to be treated with respect.

"This laboratory should have given our communities hundreds of jobs for years to come, but it has just given us an empty laboratory filled with only empty promises."

Western confirmed he will now write to the Secretary of State for Health to seek answers on "why the last Government wasted so much money" and to find out "what facilities and capacity would be available in the event of a future pandemic impact on our community."