Priti Patel has sparked anger by suggesting Labour MPs cannot be trusted to receive security briefings about threats to the UK from the crisis in Ukraine.
The home secretary made the comment in defending her claim that the UK cannot be more generous to refugees fleeing the Russian invasion because of the “strongest security advice”.
“I’m sure if the party opposite wanted a security briefing from our colleagues, we’d happily provide one,” she told Labour, during a Commons statement.
“But, at the same time, I’m very sceptical of how they treat and respect security advice.”
The allegation came despite Ms Patel, infamously, being sacked from Theresa May’s government for holding secret meetings with the Israeli government.
Angela Eagle, a Labour MP and former minister, called the comment “disgraceful” – as Ms Patel failed to explain why security concerns rule out welcoming more refugees from war-torn Ukraine
Jacqui Smith, a former Labour home secretary, tweeted: “That’s an unwarranted slur on the current opposition and unworthy of a home secretary.”
Ms Patel hit out as she was forced to backtrack partially on her refusal to open the door to more Ukrainian refugees, apparently under pressure from Downing Street.
More family members of Ukrainians in the UK – parents of adults, grandparents, adult offspring and siblings – will be eligible, instead of just spouses and children.
And individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to sponsor Ukrainians to work in the UK, outside of normal rules on salaries and language spoken.
However, Ms Patel is still refusing to waive visa rules – as the EU is doing – and she admitted she had no idea how many people would take up the UK’s schemes, or how quickly.
Boris Johnson has claimed up to 200,000 Ukrainians could come as family members, but the Home Office has been unable to say how the estimate has been reached.
Ms Patel told MPs: “We should be very honest and level with everyone...we do not know the numbers of people that would seek to come to the UK.”
The home secretary again insisted security fears stand in the way of a more generous policy, pointing to the chemical weapons attack in Salisbury in 2018.
“Russian troops are seeking to infiltrate and merge with Ukrainian forces,” she told MPs, adding there are “extremists on the ground” in Ukraine.
“Given this and also Putin’s willingness to do violence on British soil, and in keeping with our approach which we have retained consistently throughout all emergency evacuations including in Afghanistan, we cannot suspend any security or biometric checks on people we welcome to our country.
“We have collective duty to keep the British people safe and this approach is based on the strongest security advice.”
