TOBIAS Ellwood said he would go to work without adequate protective equipment if he was a care worker – but added: “It is not about me, it is about the people who are on the frontline.”

The Bournemouth East MP gave his personal response while being asked about the government’s handling of distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) to people working in care homes.

Mr Ellwood said the government should have handled the situation better to date.

He added that nobody should be going to work having to wear the same mask on multiple occasions. The defence select committee chairman said the issue “is being rectified but it is taking too long”.

Asked if he would go to work if he was a care worker and he knew he did not have adequate equipment, he told BBC’s Newsnight: “You are putting a hypothetical question to me. You asked me personally, I would continue my work because that is the person I am.

“It is not about me, it is about the people who are on the frontline. We need to make sure the kit gets there.

“This government has done a great job in communicating with the nation, in keeping the nation together. The best way to continue to do that is also to be honest when things don’t go as correctly as they should do.

“We have been slow in procuring the necessary equipment. The pace of this virus coming to Europe and so forth has meant we are competing with much of Europe at the same time for the very same equipment.

“We don’t procure this stuff in the UK. We are starting to do that. We are also receiving it from across the world but it hasn’t got to the frontline, particularly to the care homes, as fast as it should have, which has led to the difficulties that we are talking about.”

Mr Ellwood appeared on the television show on Thursday night, with presenter Emma Barnett saying the government had not put a minister forward for interview.

Quizzed on the issue that care workers are fearful about going to work but also scared about not getting paid if they stay at home, Mr Ellwood said: “I fully understand that. This is why it is so important that we are now finally seeing a ratcheting up not just of testing but the equipment itself. This was always going to be the critical pinch point for dealing with this virus.

“If we are going to stem the spread of this virus, we need to make sure that it doesn’t infiltrate in areas where it would affect the vulnerable.

“At the very start of this the prime minister made it clear: 1.5million people in this country would be most susceptible to receiving the virus and it would be dangerous for them."

Mr Ellwood said vulnerable members of society had not been forgotten about and the thousands of volunteers around the country had supported them.

“There are many care homes in Bournemouth and we had volunteers that were brought back into the service to make sure they were looked after,” said Mr Ellwood. “£3.2billion was put forward to local authorities to assist.

“I am just placing things in perspective. I am absolutely saying the government should have done better, there is no doubt about that, but to say that nothing has been done would be incorrect reporting.

“We have got to get this right. We should not be having anybody going to work having to wear the same mask again and again and again. That is being rectified but it is taking too long.”