Priti Patel has been accused of a “troubling” refusal to accept the government’s Covid border failed — despite the surge of the Delta variant in the UK that was first detected in India.
During a grilling at the Home Affairs Committee, the home secretary insisted that health measures imposed at the border had “not failed” and a “comprehensive” policy was in force.
Defending the decision to place India on the “red list” on 23 April — 17 days after Pakistan and Bangladesh — Ms Patel said it was “entirely wrong” to suggest ministers delayed a move to enforce mandatory quarantine at government-designated hotels for travellers from the country.
But committee chair and senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper told her: “I don’t think there’s anybody in the country who thinks that your border policy worked to prevent the Delta variant spreading right across the country and we can see the evidence.”
During the first week of July, the number of Covid infections linked to the now-dominant Delta variant increased by over 54,000 cases (a 34 per cent rise), according to figures from Public Health
Just last month, the chairman of the government’s Nervtag advisory group professor Sir Peter Horby suggested stronger border measures may have “delayed” or “even prevented” the spread of the Delta variant in the UK.
“It’s clear that the Delta variant started to transmit within the UK because of introductions from other countries,” he told the BBC. “So I think there is a case to be said that that did happen and stronger border measures may have delayed it, may even have prevented it.”
But speaking on Wednesday, Ms Patel told MPs: “The fact of the matter is we do have an end-to-end comprehensive approach when it comes to border security, but importantly health measures at the border.
“That is through the 100 per cent compliance of checks we have in place and of course as the country will be very well aware, with the red, amber, green traffic light system that is put in place”.
Pressed by the committee chair Ms Cooper, who said the system “clearly did fail” due to the surge in cases of the Delta variant, Ms Patel added: “We have a comprehensive end-to-end system when it comes to managing health measures at the border.
“The government has had a longstanding record and policy of managing health measures at the border, which is very well publicised and well aware.
“On top of that we have the largest genomic sequencing capacity in the world effectively, which has been able to spot these variants of concern that have been coming into the country.”
The home secretary added: “It is entirely wrong to suggest we delayed putting India on the red list, which is effectively the suggestion that is being made.
“There were other countries that were put on the red list, including Bangladesh and Pakistan early in April and that decision was taken on the basis of the positivity rate of people entering the country and the data showing the proportion of people testing positive.
“The date of the India red-listing — the ban was the 23 April — with everyone arriving from India then being put into quarantine in a hotel for 10 days and that is also five days before the Delta variant was formally put under investigation on 28 April and two weeks before it was labelled a variant of concern on 7 May.”
But, Ms Cooper said: “Unfortunately home secretary I don’t think there’s anybody in the country who thinks that your border policy worked to prevent the Delta variant spreading right across the country and we can see the evidence.
“Therefore it’s quite troubling you’re effectively saying the policy did work and isn’t being changed in order to react more swiftly.”
