Bibby Stockholm: MP demands safety reports on asylum barge as it nears Dorset dock
A Tory MP has demanded to see safety reports for a barge that the government plans to use to house asylum seekers.
The Bibby Stockholm – which will accommodate 500 people waiting for decisions on their applications – departed from Cornwall on Monday to head to its new dock at Portland Port in Dorset.
But Chris Loder, who represents West Dorset, claimed the figure was double the capacity the barge had been designed to hold.
Mr Loder has called on the home secretary to “stop” the vessel or provide the assessments that show it is “safe to cope with double the weight that it was designed to bear”.
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The government has been seeking out new accommodation for asylum seekers, including those who cross the Channel in small boats, claiming the hotel bill to house them has hit £6m a day.
As well as the barge, it has taken over former military bases, and reports have even suggested large marquees could be used.
But ministers have faced a backlash from local residents, councils and MPs if their areas have been chosen for the new sites.
Previously Richard Drax MP, a Conservative who represents South Dorset (including Portland), threatened the government with legal action over the barge.
Mr Loder, who has also spoken out against the Bibby Stockholm coming to his county, has now put pen to paper, writing to Home Secretary Suella Braverman and transport minister Baroness Vere with his concerns over the safety of the barge.
Dining facilities onboard the Bibby Stockholm
“For months, I have been asking for sight of the safety risk assessments that should have been done to allow the Bibby Stockholm to be used in Portland Harbour with 500 people on board whilst it was designed for 250,” he wrote.
“The Bibby Stockholm has now left Falmouth Dock. But visibility or assurances that adequate safety risk assessments have been completed have not been received.”
The MP also claimed that following a call with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, it was “clear they have also not undertaken that work, which we would typically expect them to do for a flagged vessel on water – which is what the Bibby Stockholm is”.
Mr Loder added: “I am writing to you this evening to ask that you either stop the Bibby Stockholm or that you provide the necessary safety risk assessments that confirm this vessel is safe to cope with double the weight that it was designed to bear.”
There are also bedrooms onboard.
The move of the three-storey vessel is already a month behind schedule, after Ms Braverman told MPs it would be in Portland within a fortnight on 5 June.
The 222-bedroom vessel contains “basic” accommodation, with healthcare provision, catering facilities and 24/7 security, at a reported cost of £20,000 a day, the Home Office said back in May.
Dorset Council has been given £2m in a funding package to meet the cost of providing services to residents.
In a statement in response to Mr Loder’s concerns, the Home Office said: “We can confirm that Bibby Stockholm is now on its way to Portland Port.
“Using vessels as alternative accommodation, like our European neighbours are already doing, will be better value for British taxpayers and more manageable for communities than costly hotels.
“We continue to work extremely closely with local councils and key partners to prepare for arrival of asylum seekers later this month and minimise disruption for local residents including through substantial financial support.”
In what he said would be his last remarks as CFTC chair, Rostin Behnam said he intended to advocate for the commission to address regulatory challenges over digital assets.
A Tory bid to launch a new national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal has been voted down by MPs amid criticism of “political game playing”.
MPs rejected the amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing Bill by 364 to 111, a majority of 253.
However, even if the Commons had supported the measure, it wouldn’t have actually forced the government to open the desired inquiry, due to parliamentary procedure.
Instead, it would have killed the government’s legislation, the aim of which is to reform things like the children’s care system and raise educational standards in schools.
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Tonight’s vote was largely symbolic – aimed at putting pressure on Labour following days of headlines after comments by Elon Musk brought grooming gangs back into the spotlight.
The world’s richest man has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, after she rejected a new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, saying this should be done at a local level instead.
The Tories also previously said an Oldham inquiry should be done locally and in 2015 commissioned a seven-year national inquiry into child sex abuse, led by Professor Alexis Jay, which looked at grooming gangs.
However, they didn’t implement any of its recommendations while in office – and Sir Keir has vowed to do so instead of launching a fresh investigation into the subject.
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The division list showed no Labour MPs voted in favour of the Conservative amendment.
Those who backed the proposal include all of Reform’s five MPs and 101 Tory MPs – though some senior figures, including former prime minister Rishi Sunak and former home secretaries James Cleverly and Suella Braverman, were recorded as not voting.
The Liberal Democrats abstained.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge on the Politics Hub before the vote, education minister Stephen Morgan condemned “political game playing”.
“What we’re seeing from the Conservatives is a wrecking amendment which would basically allow this bill not to go any further,” he said.
“That’s political game playing and not what I think victims want. Victims want to see meaningful change.”
As well as the Jay review, a number of local inquiries were also carried out, including in Telford and Rotherham.
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Grooming gangs: What happened?
Speaking earlier in the day at PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer accused Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch of “jumping on the bandwagon” after Mr Musk’s intervention and spreading “lies and misinformation”.
Referring to her time in government as children’s and equalities minister, the prime minister said: “I can’t recall her once raising this issue in the House, once calling for a national inquiry.”
He also said having spoken to victims of grooming gangs this morning, “they were clear they want action now, not the delay of a further inquiry”.
Ms Badenoch has argued that the public will start to “worry about a cover-up” if the prime minister resists calls for a national inquiry, and said no one has yet “joined up the dots” on grooming.
Girls as young as 11 were groomed and raped across a number of towns in England – including Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford – over a decade ago in a national scandal that was exposed in 2013.
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