UK Interior Secretary Priti Patel was registered saying the nation should have closed its borders in March due to the pandemic.
“‘In [the question of] ‘should we have closed our borders before?’ the answer is yes, I was an advocate of closing them last March, ”Patel is heard saying in an audio recording obtained by the political website Guido Fawkes.
The recording was made during a call from Zoom on Tuesday night to the group Conservative Friends of India.
Asked to comment on the audio recording, a Home Office spokesman did not deny its authenticity and told CNN on Wednesday: “We have strong measures in place at the border that are vital as we launch the vaccine.”
The government has faced criticism over relaxed border measures, which were amended earlier this week. Initially, several countries had travel corridors with the United Kingdom, which means that visitors could enter the country without having to isolate themselves for 14 days on arrival.
Patel’s reported comments were made after the United Kingdom closed all ‘travel corridors’ – effectively closing the country’s borders – on Monday for the first time during the pandemic. The decision was made in response to the growing concern about new variants in international evolution.
The UK’s Covid-19 death toll – the highest in Europe – currently stands at over 93,000, according to the government panel.
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 Interior Minister about closing the border.
Johnson did not dispute what Patel said on the recording.
“I think it was the right gentleman who said last March that we didn’t need to close the borders, but as usual, Captain Hindsight changed his mind about the events,” said Johnson.
“We are … in the middle of a national pandemic and this country is facing a very, very serious death toll and we are doing everything we can to protect the British public.”
Johnson joked, “I’m delighted [Starmer] now praises the interior minister, a change of tone. “
Starmer repeated the question, asking again why Johnson had rejected the interior minister.
Johnson replied, “We instituted one of the most difficult border regimes in the world and it was only last March that he and many members of his party continued to support an open border approach.”
In a camera interview on Wednesday, Patel’s comments were again directed at Johnson. Asked whether Britain should have closed its borders last March, he said: “There are many opportunities to look back, to see what decisions were made, when and what approach was taken in March last year … but what I can say today is that among the most difficult border regimes in the world. ”
CNN contacted Conservative Friends of India for comment.