Bibby Stockholm fiasco shows how far Rishi Sunak has to go to deliver on boats promise
The discovery of Legionella on board the Bibby Stockholm is the latest embarrassing setback in a plan beset with controversy and delay from the very start.
Thankfully, no one on board has developed any symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially serious form of pneumonia spread by infected water droplets.
The Home Office insist the 39 people currently on board are being disembarked as a mere “precautionary measure” while further tests are undertaken.
But the timeline of this apparently routine water-testing process – and who in government knew what when – is far from clear.
Sky News understands the initial tests were carried out on Tuesday 25 July. The results came back nearly a fortnight later – on Monday 7 August, the very day the first 15 asylum seekers moved in at the start of this week.
But the Home Office say it was only yesterday – Thursday 10 August – that they were advised by the UK Health Security Agency to remove those on board, and then only the six individuals who boarded the barge yesterday. As a “further temporary precaution”, the decision was taken to remove all 39 individuals on board, which is happening today.
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‘Not right to expect four star hotels’
A Home Office source insists the “final tests” only came back to them yesterday, but that they have been working closely with the UKHSA and following its advice. The reasons for the delay in responding to the initial test results however are as yet unclear.
Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock has described the Bibby Stockholm as a “floating symbol of the government’s incompetence” and a “complete and utter shambles”.
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Certainly the delivery of the plan to house 500 people on barge accommodation has been riven with problems from the beginning.
Local people have always objected to the location. Dorset MP Chris Loder has repeatedly raised concerns over overcrowding, with the Bibby Stockholm set to house double the number of people it was initially designed to accommodate.
The Mayor of Portland, Carralyn Parkes, who was previously a Labour parliamentary candidate, is bringing legal action over claims the Home Office didn’t get the necessary planning permission for the barge.
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Barge reminds migrant of Islamic State
The initial arrival of migrants on board was delayed by health and safety checks – with the Fire Brigades Union describing the vessel as a “potential death trap”.
Then out of the 50 finally set to board this Monday, only 15 initially did so, with 20 being removed from the list amid legal challenges.
While a handful more have clearly been arriving throughout the week, it’s clearly going to take time for the vessel to reach the full 500 target – clearly delayed even longer now all those already on board have been evacuated.
The Home Office insists the use of barges to house asylum seekers is a “tried and tested approach” which offers “better value for the British taxpayers” than the £6m daily cost of housing some 50,000 asylum seekers stuck on the backlog in hotels.
The use of more basic accommodation – from barges to disused military barracks – is a key plank of the government’s attempt to deter migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats in the first place. The ultimate deterrent – deporting people to Rwanda – is currently on hold, pending a final decision from the Supreme Court.
This week was meant to be the government’s “small boats week” – showcasing a series of announcements to highlight its tough policies on immigration.
But the latest fiasco on board the Bibby Stockholm is yet another indication of how far the prime minister has to go to deliver on his promise to stop the small boats.
GD Culture Group (GDC), a Nasdaq-listed holding company focused on livestreaming, e-commerce and artificial intelligence-powered digital human technology, plans to raise up to $300 million for a cryptocurrency treasury reserve.
In a May 12 statement, GDC and its subsidiary, AI Catalysis, announced entering into a common stock purchase agreement with a British Virgin Islands limited liability company to sell up to $300 million of its common stock.
The proceeds from the stock sale will be used to fund the firm’s crypto treasury, which will include purchases of Bitcoin (BTC) and the Official Trump (TRUMP) token.
“Under this initiative, and subject to certain limitations, GDC intends to allocate a significant portion of the proceeds from any share sales under the facility to the acquisition, long-term holding, and integration of crypto assets into its core treasury operations,” the company said in the announcement.
GDC described the strategy as a move to align with the broader “decentralization transformation.”
Founded in 2016, GDC is a micro-cap company with a current $34 million market capitalization, according to Nasdaq data.
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GDC’s chairman and CEO, Xiaojian Wang, said the initiative builds on the company’s strengths in digital technologies and positions it for a blockchain-powered industrial shift.
“GDC’s adoption of crypto assets as treasury reserve holdings is a deliberate strategy that reflects both current industry trends and our unique strengths in digital technologies and the livestreaming e-commerce ecosystem,” Wang said.
The stock offering was announced over a month after the firm received a noncompliance warning from Nasdaq related to its stockholders’ equity. The notice indicated that the firm reported stockholders’ equity of only $2,643, well below the minimum requirement of $2.5 million.
The firm was given until May 4 to submit a plan to comply with the listing requirements. If accepted by Nasdaq, the compliance plan will allow up to 180 days from the notification period to comply with the requirements.
The Nevada-based company joins a small but growing group of public firms that are allocating part of their balance sheets to crypto assets.
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Trump token dinner planned for top holders
GDC’s announcement coincides with an upcoming high-profile event tied to the Trump token project. The 25 largest holders of TRUMP tokens are set to attend a private dinner at the White House on May 22.
However, the TRUMP memecoin project said in a May 12 X post that it has stopped considering additional purchases for the dinner and that the attendees had been notified to apply for background checks.
According to data provided on the project’s leaderboard, the top 220 wallets held more than 13.7 million tokens as of May 12, worth about $174 million at the time of publication.
Some US lawmakers have criticized the dinner. Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis reportedly said that the idea of the US president offering exclusive access for people willing to pay “gives [her] pause.”
Crypto regulation experts also fear that the Trump family’s crypto endeavors may trigger more regulatory scrutiny by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as politically affiliated memecoins introduce a new challenge for crypto legislation.
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A 21-year-old man has been arrested over a series of arson attacks, police have said, after a fire at a house owned by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The suspect was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, according to the Metropolitan Police.
He remains in custody.
Emergency services were called to fires at the doors of two homes in north London within 24 hours of each other – one just after 1.35am on Monday in Kentish Town and the other on Sunday in Islington. Both properties are linked to Sir Keir.
Police are investigating links to several fires, which they are treating as suspicious. Pic: LNP
Detectives were also checking a vehicle fire last Thursday on the same street as the Kentish Town property to see whether it is connected.
Part of the area was cordoned off as police and London Fire Brigade (LFB) investigators examined the scene.
Neighbours described hearing a loud bang and said police officers were looking for a projectile.
Emergency services were deployed to the scene in Kentish Town, north London, on Monday. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
The prime minister is understood to still own the home, which was damaged by fire on Monday, but nobody was hurt. Pictures showed scorching at the entrance to the property.
Sir Keir used to live there before he and his family moved into 10 Downing Street after Labour won last year’s general election. It is believed the property is being rented out.
In the early hours of Sunday, firefighters dealt with a small fire at the front door of a house converted into flats in nearby Islington, which is also linked to the prime minister.
Counter-terror police are leading the investigation. Pic: LNP
In a statement, police said: “As a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire.
“Enquiries are ongoing to establish what caused it. All three fires are being treated as suspicious at this time, and enquiries remain ongoing.”
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The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “I can only say that the prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work and it is subject to a live investigation. So I can’t comment any further.”
Kemi Badenoch has condemned the suspected arson attacks.
Writing on X, the Conservative leader said: “This is a shocking incident. My thoughts are with the prime minister and his family. No one should face these sorts of threats, let alone people in public service.
“It’s an attack on our democracy and must never be tolerated.”
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News on Tuesday: “It’s important that the prime minister and anyone in public life has their family, their homes, protected.
“It is absolutely wrong, disgraceful, for any individual to take the kind of action that we saw against the prime minister’s home.”
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed two key cryptocurrency-related bills that aimed to expand the state’s involvement in digital assets while signing a strict regulatory measure targeting Bitcoin ATMs.
On May 12, Hobbs rejected Senate Bill 1373, which sought to establish a Digital Assets Strategic Reserve Fund. The fund would have allowed Arizona to hold crypto assets obtained through seizures or legislative allocations.
“Current volatility in cryptocurrency markets does not make a prudent fit for general fund dollars,” she stated in her veto letter. “I have already signed legislation this session which allows the state to utilize cryptocurrency without placing general fund dollars at risk,” she added.
That decision followed her veto of Senate Bill 1025 — the more ambitious “Arizona Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act” — on May 3. It would have authorized up to 10% of the state’s treasury and retirement funds to be invested in Bitcoin and other digital assets.
According to data from bitcoinlaws.io, 26 US states have introduced strategic crypto reserve bills, with 18 of them currently active.
Hobbs also vetoed Senate Bill 1024, which would have permitted state agencies to accept cryptocurrency payments for taxes, fines and fees via approved service providers.
Although the proposal attempted to shield the state from direct exposure to price volatility, Hobbs said it still introduced “too much risk.”
Related: Taiwan lawmaker calls for Bitcoin reserve at national conference
Hobbs approves Bitcoin ATM bill
On May 12, Hobbs approved House Bill 2387, which introduces new consumer protection rules for cryptocurrency kiosk (ATM) operators, aiming to reduce fraud and improve transparency.
The bill mandates that kiosks display clear, multilingual warnings about common crypto scams and require users to acknowledge these risks before completing transactions. Operators must also provide detailed receipts that include transaction data, contact information, fees and refund policies.
Furthermore, the bill caps transactions at $2,000 per day for new customers and $10,500 per day for returning users after 10 days. Kiosk providers must also offer 24/7 toll-free customer service and post the number visibly on each machine.
Under the bill, if a new user is tricked into sending crypto under false pretenses and reports it with proof within 30 days, they are entitled to a full refund, including fees.
According to CoinATMRadar, there are currently 20 active Bitcoin ATMs in Arizona.
Notably, Hobbs has not entirely closed the door on digital assets. On Wednesday, she signed House Bill 2749, which updates Arizona’s unclaimed property laws to include digital assets.
The legislation allows the state to retain unclaimed cryptocurrencies in their original form rather than liquidating them into fiat currency.
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