Housing asylum seekers on Bibby Stockholm ‘cruel and unusual’, says Portland mayor

Carralyn Parkes, the Mayor of Portland, has shared her concerns over the Bibby Stockholm barge, moored in Portland Port.

Up to 500 people are expected to be housed on the vessel.

Ms Parkes spoke to Good Morning Britain on Tuesday 8 September and argued the barge is a “completely unsuitable” environment to house asylum seekers.

“I think that the barge itself is small, and accommodation is cramped. It’s a cruel and unusual way to treat human beings,” she said.

“People belong in communities, not on barges.”