If Labour Party wins the next election in the United Kingdom, controversial barges and military camps will continue to be used as temporary housing for asylum seekers, according to a lawmaker and a member of the said political group.
Under Labour Administration
A view of the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge at Portland Port on July 21, 2023 in Portland, England. The Bibby Stockholm barge, which arrived to be moored off the coast of Portland in Dorset earlier this week, has been re-fitted and is now deemed suitable by the Home Office to accommodate up to 500 migrants.
Stephen Kinnock, the shadow immigration minister, said the idea makes him deeply unhappy as it is the last thing the party wants to do. However, he insisted Labour would have to clean up whatever "mess" they inherited.
"Over the last 13 years, the Tory government has destroyed our asylum system. We'll inherit a mess if we are privileged to win the next election," Kinnock said on Sunday, Aug. 6, in an interview with Sky News. "The reality is, on day one we will have to deal with the we have and the shambolic mess they have left us. We'll be left with no choice but to deal with the mess we inherit," he added.
In a report by The Guardian, Kinnock expressed optimism that the backlog might be cleared within six months under a Labour administration.
The shadow minister would not commit to a date by which a Labour leadership would end its use of the barges and reduce the backlog, which now stands at over 172,000 cases.
Immigration Initiatives to 'Stop the Boats'
Meanwhile, Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, said inspections on a contentious barge built to accommodate asylum seekers were still underway and that the first group was expected to be placed there within a few weeks, as reported by Sky News. He expressed confidence that the Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Dorset, will soon begin operations and that the government would consider fire safety issues.
Dowden slammed the people who have voiced worry over the asylum seeker barge in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, telling them to put down their "howls of outrage."
In an attempt to demonstrate that the prime minister is making progress on one of his five core commitments, to "stop the boats," the government will unveil a series of immigration initiatives this week.
The Stop the Boats or Illegal Migration Bill will make good on this pledge by closing the door on asylum seekers who enter the United Kingdom via illegal channels.
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The Growing Asylum Backlog
On Sunday morning, Kinnock made statements in which he blamed the Conservatives for lying about their efforts to reduce the growing asylum backlog.
When a claimant skips a scheduled appointment, the company has been known to cancel the claim arbitrarily. It does not indicate that anything has been handled and instead leaves people waiting. Kinnock said people would join the black market when that happens.
According to the Independent, over 6,000 individuals have been removed from the list in only three months without being properly reviewed due to missing interviews or meetings and failing to fill out new fast-track questionnaires.
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