Priti Patel CLASHES with PM Johnson over closing Britain’s borders

A Downing Street spokesman has said that there were “no plans” to stop flights from countries blighted by coronavirus, this despite reports of the Home Secretary wishing to close the border to the countries most affected by the pandemic.

Boris Johnson and Priti Patel have clashed in a row over closing the United Kingdom’s borders during the coronavirus pandemic, Ms Patel attempted to put the case for closing the border to the Prime Minister who refused the plea.

According to Whitehall sources, the Prime Minister was angry that Home Office discussions of a border lockdown had been made available to the public. These reports surface in the Daily Telegraph and later Unity News Network.

It is understood that Ms Patel wanted to raise the issue in one of the daily meetings of Cabinet sub-committees, arguing that Border Force, which is overseen by the Home Office, would be able to use existing immigration rules to stop flights on the basis that they would not be “conducive to the public good”.

The Home Secretary was concerned at the number of people entering the United Kingdom from places severely affected by the virus, such as Tehran, New York, Rome and Beijing.

Interestingly the source who provided this information to the Telegraph claims that the ban, if put into place would be on non-European Economic Area countries. The reason given for this was many EEA nations already have strict lockdowns in place on their citizens.

Despite visitors arriving from such countries, they are asked to self-isolate for 14 days upon arriving in the UK, however, there is no way of checking they are doing so and passengers are simply trusted to do the responsible thing.

Senior Cabinet ministers were understood to have split over the issue when it was initially raised in Government.

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, has previously expressed concerns about flights arriving from Iran and other countries.

Regardless, it would seem the Prime Minister has taken the view of Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, who warned that stopping flights would mean an end to the ongoing repatriations of British tourists who have all been told to come home.

Foreign Office sources have suggested banning flights would be a “purely symbolic” measure with a “significant” downside attached, including Britons “trapped” abroad.

Government scientific advisers told the Prime Minister that banning flights would have no significant impact on the spread of the virus, and Ms Patel has been warned about taking ‘unnecessary’ action that could lead to major damage in the airline industry.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman, asked about the possibility of a flight ban yesterday, said there were “no plans” to do so.

He added: “The level of inward travel into the UK has fallen greatly since the outbreak of the virus and means transport providers have reduced services.”

The advice will be reviewed regularly and a decision on closing airports may change if experts recommend a ban must commence.

The Home Secretary is understood to have accepted that there should be no flight ban unless advice from medical experts changes and recommends one.

Britain’s open borders to flights contrasts with the EU’s decision last week to ban virtually all travellers from outside the bloc for 30 days.

Government scientific advisers have estimated that around 500 cases of coronavirus can be linked directly to foreign nationals arriving in the UK.

Some non-EU countries, such as India and Kazakhstan, stopped Iran air flights earlier this month, while the US extended its EU travel ban to the UK and Ireland ten days ago.

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