Priti Patel and Ireland: What the new Home Secretary said about food shortages Her comment was called ‘an insult to all the people of Ireland’

Priti Patel has returned to the Cabinet after she was appointed to the post of Home Secretary by new Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Last year the MP for Witham was sensationally forced to quit from the role of international development secretary after having secret meetings with senior Israeli figures.

While many praised the diversity among the Great Offices of State – Sajid Javid has been promoted to Chancellor – under Mr Johnson, others pointed to controversial comments made by Ms Patel in the past.

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Her eyebrow-raising remarks included a suggestion to threaten Ireland with the prospect of food shortages if leaders did not relent on their demands for Brexit backstop arrangements.

What is the backstop?

The UK wants out of the EU’s single market, which allows goods to pass with ease throughout member states.

The aim of the backstop is to maintain a frictionless border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and to prevent physical checks if Britain leaves the EU with no deal.

The backstop would leave Northern Ireland aligned to some rules of the single market. Critics fear it will mean the UK remains tied to the EU.

The EU insisted on writing the backstop into the Withdrawal Agreement as an insurance policy to ensure a hard border is prevented if a trade deal cannot be secured at a later date.

What made Patel say this comment?

Ireland, which relies on Britain for trade, will face food shortages and higher economic consequences than the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to Government papers that were leaked in December.

Checks on goods passing over the border would cause delays.

Ms Patel called for the then prime minister Mrs May to use the information as leverage to force Ireland’s hand on the backstop issue.

“This paper appears to show the Government were well aware Ireland will face significant issues in a no-deal scenario. Why hasn’t this point been pressed home during the negotiations? There is still time to go back to Brussels and get a better deal,” Ms Patel told The Times.

What was the response?

Ms Patel’s comments were highly criticised at the time. Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson said they were “an insult to all the people of Ireland”.

“It displays ignorance to history and a political insensitivity that is unworthy of an MP. She should retract and apologise.”

Her comments were all the more controversial when considered in the context of the Great Famine in Ireland during the 19th century. One million people died while a million more moved away.

Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Féin leader, said at the time Ms Patel’s remarks were “insensitive and gauche”.

“British parliamentarians are entitled to take their position and plough their own furrow. They are not entitled to wreck Ireland,” she said.

After Ms Patel was made Home Secretary, the SNP’s Joanna Cherry reminded the public of what she said.

“As her SNP shadow I congratulate Priti Patel on her promotion to Home Secretary but I deplore her support for the death penalty and her suggestion that UK threaten Ireland with food shortages in Brexit negotiations which showed a total disregard of history.”