UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has said the country 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 in favor of closing it last March, ”Patel hears say in an audio recording obtained from Guido Fawkes’ political website.
The recording was reportedly taken during a Tuesday night Zoom call with the Conservative Friends of India group.
Asked to comment on the audio recording, an Interior Ministry spokesman did not deny its authenticity, telling CNN on Wednesday, “We have strict border measures that are vital as we roll out the vaccine.”
The government has been criticized for relaxed border measures, which were changed earlier this week. Initially, several countries had travel corridors with the UK, which meant visitors could enter the country without isolating themselves for 14 days upon arrival.
Patel’s reported comments come after the UK closed all ‘travel corridors’ for the first time during the pandemic on Monday – basically closing the country’s borders. The decision was made in response to growing concerns about the new variants evolving internationally.
The death toll from Covid-19 in the UK – the highest in Europe – is currently over 93,000, according to the government dashboard.
Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer read Patel’s words from the audio recording in Parliament on Wednesday and asked why Prime Minister Boris Johnson had rejected the Secretary of the Interior on border closures.
Johnson did not dispute what Patel said in the recording.
“I think it was the right gentleman who said last March that we shouldn’t close the borders, but as usual, Captain Hindsight has adjusted his voice to the events,” Johnson said.
“We are … in the midst of a national pandemic and this country faces a very, very serious death toll and we are doing everything we can to protect the British public.”
Johnson quipped, “I’m delighted [Starmer] now praises the interior minister, a change of tune. “
Starmer repeated the question, asking again why Johnson had rejected the Secretary of the Interior.
Johnson replied, “We have set up one of the toughest border regimes in the world and it was only last March that he and many members of his party continued to support an open borders approach.”
In a camera interview on Wednesday, Patel’s comments were again submitted to Johnson. When asked if Britain should have closed its borders in March last year, he said: “There is plenty of opportunity to look back on what decisions, when and what approach was taken in March last year … but what I can do today say the UK has one of the toughest border regimes in the world. ”
CNN has reached out to the Conservative Friends of India for comment.