Bibby Stockholm: Asylum seekers should be moved back on the barge despite row over Legionella, says Steve Barclay

Published

2 years ago

August 14, 2023

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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.

It later emerged that people spent four days on board the barge after the bacteria was discovered and before they were removed by the Home Office as a “precautionary measure” – prompting a blame game about what the government knew and when.

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.

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.

Its operation has been mired in controversy after its opening was delayed several times before it finally opened to asylum seekers last Monday.

Charities have warned that those on board the boat have been “re-traumatised” after they were evacuated following the discovery of Legionella.

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.

It brought the cumulative total since records began in 2018 to over 100,000.

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.

Politics

Sanctioned crypto exchange Garantex shifts millions as it reboots platform

Published

5 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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Sanctioned crypto exchange Garantex shifts millions as it reboots platform

Shuttered crypto exchange Garantex is reportedly back under a new name after laundering millions in ruble-backed stablecoins and sending them to a freshly created exchange, according to a Swiss blockchain analytics company.

Global Ledger claims the operators of the Russian exchange have shifted liquidity and customer deposits to Grinex, which they say is “Garantex’s full-fledged successor,” in a report released to X on March 19.

“We can confidently state that Grinex and Garantex are directly connected both onchain and offchain.”

“The movement of funds, including the systematic transfer of A7A5 liquidity, the use of one-time-use wallets, and the involvement of addresses previously associated with Garantex, provides clear onchain proof of their link,” the Global Ledger team said in the report.

After completing its investigation on March 13, Global Ledger says it had found onchain data showing Garantex laundered over $60 million worth of ruble-backed stablecoins called A7A5 and sent them to addresses associated with Grinex.

“In this case, the burning and subsequent minting process was used to launder funds from Garantex, allowing new coins to be minted from a system address with a clean history,” the team said.

A Garantex manager also reportedly told Global Ledger that customers have been visiting the exchange office in person and moving funds from Garantex to Grinex.

“Additionally, offchain indicators, such as transactional patterns, commentaries and exchange behaviors, further reinforce this connection,” it said.

The report also points to a description of Grinex on the Russian crypto tracking site CoinMarketRating, claiming that the owners of Garantex created it. The reports said this shows “Grinex is not an independent entity but rather a full-fledged successor to Garantex, continuing its financial operations despite the exchange’s official shutdown.”

By March 14, the volume of incoming transactions on Grinex was nearly $30 million, according to Global Ledger. CoinMarketRating shows that the trade volume for the month is now over $68 million, with spot trading topping $2 million.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control first hit Garantex with sanctions in April 2022 for allegedly money laundering violations.

On March 6, the US Department of Justice collaborated with authorities in Germany and Finland to freeze domains associated with Garantex, which they claim processed over $96 billion worth of criminal proceeds since launching in 2019.

Stablecoin operator Tether also froze $27 million in Tether (USDT), on March 6 which forced Garantex to halt all operations, including withdrawals.

Only a few days later, on March 12, officials with India’s Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Aleksej Bešciokov, who allegedly operated Garantex, on US charges that included conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025

Politics

New rules may stop Elon Musk from making unlimited donations to Reform UK

Published

5 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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Foreign donations to UK political parties set to be restricted, amid rumours Elon Musk is planning to give £80m to Reform

Ministers are drawing up plans restricting foreign donors from giving unlimited funds to UK political parties, Sky News understands.

Currently, political parties can accept donations from any company registered in the UK – and foreign donors can and have used these companies to make indirect contributions.

The rules allow for British companies to be used in this way even if they don’t make any money at all.

However, Sky News understands that officials are currently looking at restricting donations based on how much money a company makes – either using a profit or a share of revenue to calculate a potential cap for the amount each UK business can give.

The government says this is in line with its manifesto pledge to “protect democracy by strengthening the rules around donations to political parties”.

Senior government sources have told Sky News these changes are partially about Elon Musk.

Officials are said to be anxious about the rumoured donation of $100m (about £80m) that Musk has suggested he would make to Reform UK.

The government’s thinking is that the tech billionaire is likely to do this just before the next election, and they hope they can pass their Elections Bill – the legislation through which the donation loophole would be closed – through parliament before that happens.

The bill would enter parliament in the next session, but ministers have told MPs that they should expect an update to these plans within months.

Musk’s donation would be an astronomical amount in the context of British politics.

The sum would trump all political donations that have been made to any political party this year – and would inevitably make a big impact on campaigning.

Elon Musk is not on the electoral register and the British arm of his company X – X.AI London Limited – has not yet made any money.

Under the proposed changes, this avenue of donating money to Reform UK would not be possible.

A government source said this is just one of the options on the table, adding that another change they are considering will mean enhanced due diligence checks on donations from unincorporated associations.

In exclusive polling, Sky News has found that any money given to parties by foreign donors is incredibly unpopular.

A total of 77% of respondents thought foreign nationals who are not registered to vote in the UK should not be allowed to donate to political parties, while only 7% thought they should be.

Even looking specifically at Reform UK voters, who would likely benefit from an Elon Musk donation, the percentage is roughly the same: 73% said they shouldn’t donate to British politics at all, while 7% said they should.

There is a lot of cash swirling all around Westminster and foreign money can and does enter UK politics.

Transparency International found almost £1 in every £10 donated to parties and politicians came from unknown or dubious sources between 2001 and 2024.

Whatever the motivation, these changes could bring greater transparency to what’s behind any murky money swirling into Westminster.

Politics

Crypto regulation must go through Congress for lasting change — Wiley Nickel

Published

13 hours ago

March 19, 2025

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Crypto regulation must go through Congress for lasting change — Wiley Nickel

Crypto regulations must be enacted through an act of Congress to become permanent and meaningful pieces of legislation, according to former Congressman Wiley Nickel.

In an exclusive video interview with Cointelegraph’s Turner Wright, Nickel urged bipartisan collaboration to push through comprehensive crypto regulations. The former Congressman added:

“I think it’s really important for anybody who cares about this issue to step back and realize that if you want lasting change in Washington, you must move legislation through Congress. Otherwise, if you’re talking about executive orders, it will just go back and forth.”

“You don’t want to have the mess that we saw just months ago with Gary Gensler’s SEC — you need to get legislation through Congress,” Nickel reiterated.

President Trump’s Jan. 23 executive order establishing the Working Group on Digital Assets, which also prohibited the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and the order establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve alongside a separate crypto stockpile, were both examples of executive actions that can be reversed at a later date.

Congress, Senate, Bitcoin Regulation, US Government, United States — *Former Congressman Wiley Nickel is pictured sitting second from the left at the Blockworks Digital Asset Summit. Source: Cointelegraph*

Both chambers of Congress rush to push through meaningful legislation

Rep. Tom Emmer, the majority whip of the United States House of Representatives, reintroduced legislation banning a CBDC in the US on March 6.

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis also reintroduced the Bitcoin Act in March, which builds upon an earlier bill of the same title but allows the US to purchase more than 1 million Bitcoin (BTC).

Rep. Byron Donalds recently announced that he would draft legislation to codify the Bitcoin strategic reserve into law — shielding President Trump’s original executive order from being overturned by a future administration.

On March 12, the House of Representatives repealed the IRS broker rule requiring decentralized finance platforms to report information to the Internal Revenue Service in a 292-131 vote.

Speaking at this year’s Blockworks Digital Asset Summit, Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna said that Congress should be able to pass comprehensive crypto regulation in 2025, including a stablecoin bill and a market structure bill.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered