Home Secretary Suella Braverman has told the public to ‘think carefully’ about Christmas travel plans, warning they are likely to face delayed flights and long waits because of strike action.

The Home Secretary said she won’t compromise on border security after Border Force announced it would strike at key airports and one port for eight days during the festive period.

She told Sky News: “I really want to urge people who have got plans to travel abroad to think carefully about their plans because they may well be impacted.

“Ultimately, I’m not willing to compromise on security at the border.

“That’s the number-one priority so that may well have an adverse impact on convenience for people, frankly, whether it’s the time that they may have to wait for flights or departures.

“They may well be delayed on arrivals and various travel plans. Ultimately security at the border is my number-one non-negotiable priority.”

Ms Braverman’s comments have attracted derision on social media, including from those who said they’d booked their Christmas travel well in advance.

One said: “I’m not sure she understands that they probably can’t get refunds if they cancel their flights now and that this matters very much to people’s budgets.”

Another tweeted: “There is absolutely no logic to what she says. Christmas trips will have been booked for months, transport, flights, hotels etc. – “Yeah, let’s just cancel it.” – Guess what you can’t. She’s in another universe, never another planet.”

Another said the alternative to going abroad was being ‘imprisoned on the isolated island of Britain for Xmas, without heating or electricity that no one can afford, and empty shelves in supermarkets’.