Britain’s interior minister, Priti Patel, was recorded saying the nation should have closed its borders in March due to the pandemic.
“‘On [the question of] “Should we have closed our borders earlier?” the answer is yes, I was a lawyer for their closure in March last year “, Patel is heard in an audio recording obtained by the political website Guido Fawkes.
The recording was allegedly made during a Zoom call on Tuesday night with the Conservative Friends of India group.
Asked to comment on the audio recording, a Home Office spokesman did not deny its authenticity and told CNN on Wednesday: “We have strong border measures at our disposal, which are vital as we launch the vaccine.”
The government has faced criticism over relaxed measures at the border, which were amended earlier this week. Initially, several countries had travel corridors with Great Britain, which means that visitors could enter the country without having to isolate themselves for 14 days after arrival.
Patel’s comments come after Britain closed all “travel corridors” – the effective closure of the nation’s borders – on Monday, for the first time during the pandemic. The decision was taken in response to growing concern about new variants evolving internationally.
The death toll in Britain’s Covid-19 – the largest in Europe – now stands at more than 93,000, according to the government’s dashboard.
Opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer read out Patel’s remarks on Parliament’s audio recording on Wednesday and asked why Prime Minister Boris Johnson had overburdened the interior minister with closing the borders.
Johnson did not dispute what Patel said in the recording.
“I think it was the honorable gentleman who, in March last year, said we didn’t need to close the borders, but, as usual, Captain Hindsight changed his tune for events,” Johnson said.
“We are … in the midst of a national pandemic and this country is facing a very large number of deaths and we are doing everything we can to protect the British public.”
Johnson joked, “I’m excited [Starmer] now he praises the interior minister, a change of tone. “
Starmer repeated the question, wondering again why Johnson had fired the interior secretary.
Johnson said: “We set up one of the toughest border regimes in the world, and it wasn’t until March last year that he and many members of his party continued to support an open border approach.”
In an interview Wednesday, Patel’s comments were again addressed to Johnson. Asked if the UK should have closed its borders in March last year, he said: “There is a lot of chance to look back at what decisions were made when and what approach was taken back in March last year. .. but what I can say today is that among the toughest border regimes in the world. ”
CNN contacted India’s conservative friends for comment.