HOME SECRETARY Priti Patel was roundly mocked today for insisting that the government has been “ahead of the curve” in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

Her comments followed the government’s latest last-minute U-turn, in which plans to relax Covid-19 rules for five days over Christmas were abandoned at the weekend.

Announcing the change of heart on Saturday night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that a new fourth tier of restrictions was to be created for London and parts of south-east England, coming into force just a few hours later.

People in a Tier 4 region are not allowed to leave it, while those elsewhere are now limited to mixing indoors with just two other households on Christmas Day only.

The change caused chaos and upset for people who had to cancel or bring forward their plans to travel to meet loved ones.

It came as a mutated form of Covid-19 was found to be driving a huge increase in infections in the south-east, which has led to more than 40 countries banning travel to and from Britain.

The new strain has now reached every part of the country, it was reported today.

Ms Patel defended Tory ministers’ response to the virus, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The government has consistently throughout this year been ahead of the curve in terms of proactive measures with regards to coronavirus.

“There’s nothing last-minute in terms of the work that was undertaken by government in terms of planning and preparing for Tier 4.

“These are big decisions that are taken collectively across government based on scientific advisers — Patrick Vallance, Chris Whitty, many, many other individuals as well from the scientific and medical community.”

She was widely criticised on social media for her comments about the government’s succession of last-minute decisions, changes of policy and outright blunders since the pandemic took hold in March.

Labour’s Jon Trickett branded her comments “unbelievable,” as did the Greens, with the Yorkshire MP adding that her claim about the “Tories having the virus under control is about as convincing as a Yorkie saying we like spending money.”

Party colleague Claudia Webbe MP said that Ms Patel’s claim ignored the “60,000 families who have lost loved ones” and “those facing Christmas with job insecurity.”

The Labour Party added: “Yes, there are tough choices to make, but they have top scientists to help them do it — they just need to pay attention to them.”