Suella Braverman under pressure to axe ‘untenable’ barges plan after bacteria discovery on Bibby Stockholm

Published

2 years ago

August 12, 2023

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The home secretary is facing fresh pressure to scrap plans to house asylum seekers on barges after Legionella bacteria was discovered in the water supply of the Bibby Stockholm.

The Home Office removed all 39 migrants from the vessel in Dorset on Friday, in the latest embarrassing setback to a policy that has been beset with controversy and delay from the very start.

The removal came less than a week after the first migrants were transferred onto the barge – though legal challenges granted some a last-minute reprieve from having to board.

Care4Calais, which said it stopped 20 migrants from being moved onto the floating accommodation on Monday, said the discovery of bacteria shows their “concerns over the health and safety of the barge are justified” as they called on ministers to axe the policy.

Steve Smith, chief executive of the charity, said: “The Bibby Stockholm is a visual illustration of this government’s hostile environment against refugees, but it has also fast become a symbol for the shambolic incompetence which has broken Britain’s asylum system.

“The government should now realise warehousing refugees in this manner is completely untenable, and should focus on the real job at hand – processing the asylum claims swiftly, so refugees may become contributing members of our communities as they so strongly wish.”

Legionella bacteria, which is commonly found in water, can cause a serious type of lung infection known as Legionnaires’ disease.

None of those on the barge have shown signs of having the disease and are all being provided with a health assessment, the Home Office said.

It was not clear where the migrants would be moved to on Friday night.

Putting them in hotels would likely cause fresh embarrassment for the government, which procured the barge alongside other budget sites in an effort to reduce the £6m-a-day cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels.

The Home Office insisted disembarking those on board was a “precautionary measure” while further tests are carried out – but questions remain about who knew what and when.

Sky News understands routine testing of the water supply was initially carried out on Tuesday 25 July but the results did not come back until Monday 7 August – the same day asylum seekers began to board the Bibby Stockholm, which is docked in Portland Port.

However the Home Office was not made aware of the results until two days later on Wednesday 9 August. Six people boarded the vessel a day later but were later removed on the advice of the UK Health Security Agency, with a decision taken on Friday to remove everyone.

What is Legionnaires’ disease?

Caused by the bacteria legionella – found in the water on the Bibby Stockholm – Legionnaires’ disease is a lung infection that is uncommon but can have serious consequences.

The disease is contracted by breathing in tiny droplets of water containing the bacteria.

It is usually found in places like hotels, offices and hospitals where the bacteria has entered the water supply.

Air conditioning systems, humidifiers and pools or hot tubs are common places where people contract Legionnaires’ disease. People are far less likely to contract the disease by drinking water or in their homes.

The symptoms include a cough, shortness of breath, high temperatures, chest pain and flu-like symptoms.

Labour’s shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said it was “extraordinary” that it appeared proper checks had not taken place before migrants were moved on board.

“It’s absolutely right that the barge has to be evacuated but what a complete and utter shambles. This is a catalogue of catastrophe and government ministers should hang their heads in shame,” he told Sky News.

He said the government would not need to use “barges, hotels or military bases” if they tackled the backlog in the asylum system which has reached more than 173,000 – outstripping the 50,000 units he said were in the UK’s asylum estate.

He called the Bibby Stockholm “a floating symbol of Conservative incompetence”.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick was understood to be chairing meetings about the situation on Friday.

But one campaign group, No to the Barge, said Mr Jenrick should stand down from his government position with “immediate effect” after promising just days ago the Bibby Stockholm was safe.

On Wednesday, he told Sky News the barge was “perfectly decent accommodation”, despite earlier warnings from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) that the vessel was a potential “death trap”.

The union reiterated its position in the wake of the latest development as they accused the government of ignoring their concerns.

Assistant general secretary Ben Selby said: “We wrote to Suella Braverman more than a week ago to demand a meeting to discuss these issues. We have had no response to that letter, and our fire safety and operational safety concerns remain.

“It remains our professional view that it’s a potential ‘death trap’ and an accident waiting to happen.

“However, Suella Braverman and her ministerial colleagues are hellbent on confining vulnerable people in jail like conditions on what is effectively a prison ship.”

It comes at the end of the government’s “small boats week” which was supposed to highlight new hardline policies for stopping Channel crossings.

The announcements were somewhat overshadowed by a row involving Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson saying asylum seekers who don’t like barges should “f*** off back to France” and later admitting the government had “failed” to tackle illegal immigration.

Tory figures were largely silent on Friday night, though one unnamed senior figure was quoted in the i newspaper calling for Ms Braverman to go.

Scott Benton, a former Conservative MP who now sits as an independent, tweeted that the Bibby Stockholm had become a “complete and utter farce” – adding: “As if having porous borders isn’t bad enough, we can’t even move 39 illegal immigrants onto a barge properly.”

Mr Sunak has made “stopping the boats” one of his five key priorities in government.

However, he faced a further blow this week after 775 people were recorded crossing the English Channel on Thursday – the highest daily number so far this year.

It pushed the cumulative total of the number of people who made small boat journeys from France to the UK to more than 100,000 since 2018, when records began.

Politics

New home secretary to host talks on people smuggling as small-boat crossings hits 30,000

Published

9 hours ago

September 8, 2025

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New home secretary to host talks on people smuggling as small-boat crossings hits 30,000

The new home secretary will host talks on how to stop people smuggling in her first major engagement in the role.

Shabana Mahmood will host the so-called Five Eyes security alliance, holding talks between counterparts from the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The security alliance discussion comes after an estimated 1,000 people arrived by small boat in Britain over the course of a single day, with French authorities saying 24 people were rescued while trying to cross the English Channel.

Ms Mahmood said the numbers, which take the yearly total to more than 30,000 in record time, were “utterly unacceptable” and that she expected migrant returns under a deal agreed last month with France to begin “imminently”.

She was promoted into the role Friday during a dramatic reshuffle of Keir Starmer’s top team, which followed in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation over her tax affairs.

Politics latest: ‘One of the worst PMs in history’

Sir Keir will now be hoping to draw a line under the fallout of his former deputy’s departure, as well as a summer dominated by criticism of his government’s handling of the small boats crisis.

Ms Mahmood said the Five Eyes intelligence sharing pact would “agree new measures to protect our border”. The group will also discuss new measures to tackle child sexual abuse online, as well as the spread of deadly synthetic opioids, the Home Office said.

Ms Mahmood said: “Rebuilding our reputation on the world stage is how we tackle serious organised crime and secure our borders.”

“The Five Eyes might be drawn from different corners of the globe, but we are united by our alliance,” she added.

“As the security threats we all face become more complex and span continents, we are stronger and safer together.”

She will be joined at the talks by US secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem, Canadian public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree, Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke and New Zealand minister Judith Collins.

The Prime Minister has told his new ministers to “go up a gear” in delivering on Labour’s agenda, part of which now involves a toughened immigration policy as he faces pressure in the polls from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

In Ms Mahmood’s first full day in the job, she met the head of Scotland Yard to receive a briefing on the policing operation in response to protests in London.

“Supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group are not the same thing,” she said.

“An honour to visit Sir Mark (Rowley) and the Metropolitan Police to see them at work policing protests yesterday.”

Almost 900 people were arrested in central London at a protest against the banning of Palestine Action.

Politics

Labour ‘failing to deliver change that people voted for’ – TUC chief

Published

10 hours ago

September 7, 2025

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Labour 'failing to deliver change that people voted for' - TUC chief

The leader of Britain’s trade unions is to accuse Sir Keir Starmer of failing to deliver the change Labour promised during the election campaign last year.

In his keynote speech at the TUC conference in Brighton, general secretary Paul Nowak will claim that for too many people change still feels like a slogan, not a reality.

After a troubled first year in government that has seen Labour lose support to Reform UK, Mr Nowak will warn the lack of change cannot continue and the government must deliver on jobs, public services and living standards.

And he will claim Rachel Reeves’ budget on 26 November must include windfall taxes on bank profits and gambling companies, a wealth tax on millionaires and the lifting of the two-child benefit cap introduced by George Osborne during the coalition government.

Mr Nowak’s speech comes just days after the unions lost their champion in cabinet, Angela Rayner, prompting fears among delegates in Brighton that the government is poised to weaken its flagship legislation on workers’ rights.

The Conservatives have responded to Ms Rayner’s demise by writing to the new business and trade secretary, Peter Kyle, calling on him to scrap the Employment Rights Bill, claiming it will reduce jobs and mean more red tape and bureaucracy.

But Labour is losing support to Nigel Farage’s party, not the Tories, and will also – potentially – to left-wing parties in future. And in an unusual move, the new left-wing leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski, will also address the TUC later.

Labour’s election manifesto last year showed a black and white photo of a shirt-sleeved Sir Keir on the front cover with the single word “Change” in red.

In his attack on the government’s first year in office, Mr Nowak will say: “The Tories took Britain to the brink. That’s why last July, the government was elected on a manifesto that promised change.

“But we have to be honest – for too many people, change still feels like a slogan not a lived reality.

“This can’t continue. Throughout our history, we’ve been at our best when we’ve been ambitious for working people.

“So today, my message to the government is simply this.

“Deliver the manifesto on which you won a huge majority last July. Deliver good jobs, decent public services and better living standards in every corner of the country. Deliver the change people voted for.

“And show working-class communities whose side you are on.”

On the budget, which Labour MPs believe will be crucial to the government’s hopes of recovery in its fortunes, Mr Nowak will declare: “Introduce a windfall tax on record bank profits and gambling companies. And back it with new taxes on wealth.

“If billionaires can afford fleets of private yachts. Day trips into space. Weddings that shut down Venice – they can pay a bit more tax.

“Do what’s best for those who go out to work, day in, day out, and still can’t get by. Deliver the Employment Rights Bill and deliver it in full.

“And make it clear – a Labour government will never stand aside and watch a child’s potential be wasted because of poverty. Lift the two-child cap, and give our kids the future they deserve.”

And on the issue set to dominate this week’s conference, workers’ rights, Mr Nowak will say: “The government has a manifesto promise to make work pay.

“Stronger rights at work are overwhelmingly popular with voters across the political spectrum.

“The public knows decent work is the best way to deliver the reset this country needs.

“The best way to improve living standards.

“And the best way to rebuild our communities hit hard by low pay and insecure work.

“So here is our challenge to government.

“Deliver that Employment Rights Bill in full and deliver the change you promised at the election.”

But the Tories’ shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith, in a letter to Mr Kyle, claims the bill will be deeply damaging to economic growth and reduce living standards.

“Rather than proceed at this time with a measure which on the government’s own impact assessment will reduce employment and growth, now is the time to put the national interest first,” he wrote.

“Any credible ‘reset’ of this government requires that this bill be shelved and the government look afresh at measures to promote the growth and competitiveness of the UK economy.”