Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May has criticised world leaders for failing "to forge a coherent international response" to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter to the Times she called on the government to "embrace its wider international role beyond the day to day of the pandemic" and not shy away from our "responsibilities on the world stage".

She said the virus had been "treated as a national issue for countries to deal with alone" and while researchers and scientists may work together, there was "little evidence of politicians doing so".

Mrs May said it was understandable that governments wanted to protect their own citizens first, but warned while there was not a collective international view on fighting the virus it risked "exacerbating the shift towards nationalism and absolutism in global politics".