Asylum seekers should still be put back on the Bibby Stockholm barge despite the row caused by the discovery of Legionella, the health secretary has said.
Legionella bacteria can cause a potentially deadly lung infection known as Legionnaires’ disease. It is contracted by people breathing in droplets of water containing the bacteria.
None of the migrants on the barge have shown any symptoms of the disease, according to the Home Office.
Asylum seekers were removed from the barge on Friday after Legionella bacteria was found in the vessel’s water system.
Dorset Council has said Home Office contractors were notified about the results last Monday – four days before people were moved off the barge.
The council went on to claim a Home Office staff member was informed about the bacteria on Tuesday.
However, a government source previously told Sky News there is no record of this conversation, and claimed the Home Office only received a written notification about the Legionella on Wednesday evening.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Barclay said ministers were informed about traces of the bacteria only on Thursday.
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‘A huge mess and a waste of money’
Asked about claims the Home Office was informed about test results which discovered the bacteria on Tuesday, he said: “This is a standard thing the council had done. There is no reason to suggest there were concerns. As a precaution the tests were done.
“As soon as ministers were notified on Thursday night, there were some concerns with that, they took instant action.”
He added: “It may be the council notified the Home Office, that is an issue for those in the Home Office to respond to, obviously this is a Home Office lead.
“My understanding from colleagues in the Home Office is it was notified to Home Office ministers on Thursday and they then took very quick action as a result.”
Overcrowding to blame for other disease outbreaks at asylum facilities
There have been outbreaks of various rare infectious diseases at several facilities for asylum seekers in recent years.
Overcrowding and poor hygiene are often to blame along with low vaccination rates in parts of the world migrants arrive from.
According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) there have been cases of diphtheria, group A strep, MRSA, scabies, tuberculosis and shigella over the past two years.
Thousands of migrants had to be vaccinated against diphtheria, which children are routinely immunised against in the UK, after cases were identified at the Manston processing centre in Ramsgate, Kent in late 2022.
They were most common in men aged between 14 and 25 who mainly presented with skin lesions. One man who died at the centre was found to have had diphtheria.
Scabies was also a problem there and at the Napier Barracks facility near Folkestone.
When outbreaks happen, guidance stipulates that all skin lesions are tested and antibiotics and vaccinations are offered.
Both the centres at Manston and Napier were recommended for closure over poor conditions.
And asked whether people should be put back on the Bibby Stockholm despite the controversy, Mr Barclay replied: “Yes, I do, because it’s costing around £6m a day in terms of the cost of hotels.
“It’s important that we both maintain safety standards, but also reflect the pressure on the taxpayer position in terms of that £6m.”
The health secretary also said no migrants had shown signs of illness from Legionella.
“There has been no concerns in terms of anyone that has been on the barge and all those people are being subject to health assessments,” he said.
The barge is one of a number of alternative sites the Home Office is using to end reliance on expensive hotels for asylum seekers, which the government says is costing the taxpayer £6m a day.
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Asylum seekers ‘not valued’ as humans
Its operation has been mired in controversy after its opening was delayed several times before it finally opened to asylum seekers last Monday.
Conservative ministers have faced calls to resign over the saga, with former cabinet minister David Davis saying the evacuation “revealed the startling incompetence of the Home Office itself”.
“Rather famously many years ago, John Reid, when he took over as home secretary, talked about it being not fit for purpose, and I’m afraid you’re seeing that here,” he told BBC Radio 4’s programme.
“It’s really, really hard to understand how, at all layers, this could not be caught early.”
He added: “Even working properly, the Bibby barge would only take effectively one day’s arrivals. So it’s not a solution to the problem and all of this is going to go on until the Home Office is able to process these arrivals more quickly.”
The government believes the existence of the barge will serve as a deterrent to those arriving in England via small boats in the Channel.
However, in a further blow to Rishi Sunak, last week saw the highest daily number of people cross the Channel, with 755 migrants making the journey on Thursday.
The government was then forced to defend its immigration strategy after at least six people died after a small boat crossing from France to the UK capsized and sank, in what was described as an “appalling and preventable” tragedy.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Image: Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Image: Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Image: Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
A ‘vile’ former police officer who was caught in a sting operation after travelling to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old boy has been jailed.
Thomas Kettleborough, 35, then an inspector with Avon and Somerset Police, was arrested in July 2023 while attempting to meet up with ‘the teenager’ after communicating with him on Grindr and Snapchat.
However, he was actually speaking to undercover officers.
After being detained at a car park in Bristol, officers found a bag in the boot of his car containing “an assortment of sex toys, condoms and bondage equipment, including a pair of limb restraints,” Exeter Crown Court heard.
More than 150 indecent images of children were also discovered on his phone and computer.
Kettleborough used the apps to have sexually explicit chats with the teenager, using the name Liam, while claiming to be 28, prosecutors said.
In February, he pleaded guilty to several child sex offences, including attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
Last month he was sacked by Avon and Somerset Police and barred from policing for gross misconduct.
He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on Thursday.
Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall, from Avon and Somerset Police, said the public would be “appalled by the vile and manipulative actions of this former officer”.
She added: “He was caught following a policing operation designed to keep children safe which has resulted in his wider offending being identified.”
Detective Inspector Dave Wells, who led the investigation, said Kettleborough’s crimes took place over four years,
The former officer held positions of trust in the police, the Sea Cadets and the Royal Lifesaving Society, but “concealed his true identity through an online persona as ‘Liam’, ‘L S’ and ‘Liamss5506’,” Mr Wells said.
Mr Wells added: “Specialist investigators are ready to listen and investigate any reports relating to Thomas Kettleborough or any other matters of concern. I want people to know that they will be believed.
“Thomas Kettleborough is now behind bars. I hope if there are others that have been affected by this case, they now feel empowered to tell someone, if they are ready to do so.”
Lee Bremridge, defending, said Kettleborough had shown genuine remorse for his crimes.
He added that the former officer had “done everything that he can attempt to do to try and understand why it is he committed the offences that he did.”
Kettleborough was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.