Opinion: Asylum barge was dogged with controversy from the beginning

While the Bibby Stockholm boat was only ever home to a maximum of 425 asylum seekers, the announcement was very much symbolic. For the previous Conservative government, the barge was a central plank of its approach to tackling the small-boats crisis. The message was unambiguous: anybody entering the UK through unauthorised routes could expect to live in austere conditions. Britain was not a soft touch.

And, along with the equally controversial plan to process UK asylum claims in Rwanda – which the Labour government has also abandoned – the proposal divided opinion from the very start.

Then immigration minister Robert Jenrick had pledged to end the use of 50 asylum hotels by the end of January, and said the Stockholm would play an important role in achieving that goal. The Government estimated that about £8 million was being spent every day on hotels for asylum seekers.

Home Office spokesman said at the time: "The Bibby Stockholm is part of the Government’s pledge to reduce the use of expensive hotels and bring forward alternative accommodation options which provide a more cost effective, sustainable and manageable system for the UK taxpayer and local communities."

It was initially announced that up to 500 asylum seekers could be housed on the boat, but fire regulations forced this to be reduced to 425.

To add to the controversy, a watchdog body had previously declared the boat to be an 'oppressive environment' when it was used for the same purpose by the Dutch government. Supporters pointed out that more recently the boat had received an extensive refurbishment after that, and had more recently been used to house construction workers in Scotland and Sweden, and had also been mooted for possible use as accommodation for university students in Galway.

In April, 2023, the Government announced its plans to dock the barge at the Isle of Portland in Dorset, much to the chagrin of local Tory MP Richard Drax.

Mr Drax said neither the local council, police or health authorities had been consulted in advance. He also warned of the potential negative impact on the local tourism.

"It has been handled in the most discourteous way," he told the Commons. The Home Office contract was for it to be in place for 18 months, but Mr Drax noted that the department said this would be 'kept under review'.

"Bearing in mind the scale of the problem nationally, I fear this barge could be in place for years to come," he said.

Mr Jenrick acknowledged the impact the boat would have on communities in Dorset, but said the policy was 'undoubtedly in the national interest'.

More than 50 campaigners and organisations, including the Refugee Council, signed an open letter to the ship's owner, Bibby Marine, calling for it to end its contract with the Government. The letter made a pointed reference to the company's founder John Bibby's links to the slave trade. The same month, a report in the Financial Times found that the barge lacked sufficient fire exits, and a separate story in The Guardian highlighted further safety concerns including fears about potential overcrowding, a lack of lifejackets, and narrow corridors.

The Fire Brigades Union questioned how firefighters would be able to cross narrow corridors and put out fires on a barge with 500 people as desired by the Government, when it had been retrofitted for 222 only. The Home Office said the barge would 'adhere to all relevant health and safety standards'.

The first 15 asylum seekers boarded the vessel on August 7, 2023, although it was reported that a further 20 had refused. Four days later, it had to be evacuated after the Legionella bacteria had been confirmed on the barge.

The barge reopened on October 19, but protesters from the campaign group Just Stop Oil blocked a coach carrying migrants to the site. Forty-five people were arrested.

There was more controversy on December 12, when it was revealed that one of the people housed on the Stockholm had committed suicide.

Bibby Marine's contract with the Home Office had been due to expire in January, 2025, and within weeks of Labour's election victory the new government announced it would not be renewing it. Labour always questioned whether it was providing value for money, and some commentators have said that it was costing just as much as accommodating them in hotels.

However, news that between 200 and 300 residents of the boat will now be moved to a Wolverhampton hotel is sure to reignite the debate of where asylum seekers should be housed.