Labour refuses to rule out housing asylum seekers on barges

Yvette Cooper suggests vessels could be kept while Labour tries to clear asylum backlog

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper (PA)

Giant barges and disused military bases could be used by a Labour government to house asylum seekers, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has indicated.

The Labour frontbencher refused to rule out use of controversial offshore accommodation – criticised by refugee groups and campaigners as akin to “prison ships”.

Ms Cooper’s comments came as the Bibby Stockholm barge heads to Portland Port in Dorset where it will house around 500 asylum seekers arriving from across the Channel on small boats.

Pressed by reporters after a speech in central London if she would immediately end the use of barges and military bases for migrants, Ms Cooper said: “We will take action to clear the [asylum] backlog.”

She said: “We’ll have to address what we inherit at that time, because at the moment it is so chaotic what the government is doing.”

Ms Cooper added: “What we want to see is the backlog cleared so that the government doesn’t need to use the hotels or other alternatives and we can simply focus on the long-standing asylum accommodation that has always been there.”

London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan has previously attacked the plan to use barges as “cruel and inhumane” – warning that dock facilities could targeted by far-right protesters.

Ms Cooper emphasised that a Labour government to “rapidly clear” the decisions backlog that has spiralled under the government before reverting to traditional asylum accommodation.

She made it clear she thinks the government’s “failure” to deal with the asylum system may be further “increasing the backlog”, which hit a record high of more than 172,000 cases.

Bibby Stockholm barge set to be docked in Portland, Dorset (AFP via Getty Images)

Bibby Stockholm was a month behind schedule as it left Falmouth, Cornwall on Monday. It had been undergoing work to house migrants in Portland Dorset, despite local opposition.

Dorset Council has been given a £2m funding package to meet the cost of providing services for the Bibby Stockholm residents.

But No 10 insisted the plan would prove value for money, with Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman saying the barges and bases would “save the taxpayer money compared to spending on hotels”.

Bibby Stockholm barge will house 500 migrants (PA)

The use of RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and the Wethersfield base in Essex to house asylum seekers also face legal action, as well as opposition by some Tory MPs. Dozens of asylum seekers have already been moved into Wethersfield.

Later on Monday, Mr Sunak and home secretary Suella Braverman will come under further pressure to change their plans to meet their “stop the boats” vow.

MPs will be considering amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill proposed by the Lords to limit the detention of children and add modern slavery protections.

Peers have inflicted a string of defeats on the much-criticised legislation during a “ping-pong” tussle over the bill until agreement is reached.

It came as comedian Dom Joly, dressed as Mickey Mouse and holding a placard saying “stop child detention”, led a Save the Children protest against the Bill outside the Home Office in central London.

The protest followed ministers facing criticism over a decision to paint over murals of Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse and Baloo from The Jungle Book, at a migrant reception centre in Kent.