Ministers insist the Bibby Stockholm IS safe for Channel migrants and accuse union of ‘political attack’ amid legal challenge over ‘serious’ fire risk
- Union accused of ‘political attack’ for complaint about Bibby Stockholm fire risk
Suella Braverman insisted the Bibby Stockholm is safe today despite a union threatening a legal challenge over ‘serious’ fire risks.
The Home Secretary pointed out that the barge moored off Dorset has been used as accommodation numerous times before.
She said Channel migrants will be moved back on board as soon as ‘processes’ are complete – although she declined to say when that would be.
Ms Braverman dismissed complaints from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) as a part of a ‘political attack’ on the government’s policies.
But she also admitted in a round of interviews that she was ‘disappointed’ at the debacle over Legionella being found in the water supply.
‘I believe the barge is safe,’ Ms Braverman told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘This barge has accommodated people in the past – asylum seekers, oil rig workers and barges of this kind have been used to accommodate asylum seekers, for example in Scotland, so I’m very confident that this barge is safe for human habitation.
‘We followed all of the advice and protocols in anticipation of embarkation.’
The Fire Brigade Union said it had been ‘sounding the alarm’ for weeks over ‘serious fire and operational concerns’ on the Bibby Stockholm (pictured)
The 506-bed Bibby Stockholm will have to remain unoccupied until later this month and possibly into September following the discovery of Legionella bacteria in its water system. Pictured: People thought to be asylum seekers boarding the Bibby Stockholm on August 8
There are fears the 506-bed Bibby Stockholm will remain empty well into September, after the discovery of Legionella bacteria in its water system for the evacuation of asylum seekers just days after they were embarked.
The FBU has sent a ‘pre-action protocol letter’ to Ms Braverman outlining its concerns over safety aboard the vessel moored in Dorset’s Portland Port.
The union previously branded the giant barge, initially designed for about 200 people but modified to house 500 migrants, a ‘potential death trap’.
FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: ‘The Fire Brigades Union is the professional voice of firefighters, and we have a duty to make our voices heard on matters of fire safety, especially when politicians let our members and the wider public down.
‘We have been sounding the alarm about the Bibby Stockholm for weeks.
‘It is disgraceful that the Home Secretary is not even willing to meet us to discuss these concerns.
‘Throughout this episode, the government has displayed a lack of transparency and a callous disregard for the safety of both firefighters and those who are due to be housed on the barge.’
READ MORE: Migrants will not be moved back on to the Bibby Stockholm barge ‘for at least three weeks’ after Legionella health scare
The union are demanding a response by 4pm on Thursday after a previous request for a meeting with the Home Secretary was turned down.
The discovery of Legionella led to the removal of all 39 migrants from the barge at Portland in Dorset earlier this month.
The barge is part of the Government’s bid to reduce the £6million-a-day cost of placing 50,000 Channel migrants in hotels.
Dorset Council said Home Office contractors were told about traces of Legionella on Monday last week – the day the first asylum seekers were moved onto the vessel.
Mr Wrack continued: ‘Fires do not discriminate based on immigration status, and neither can fire safety regulations.
‘Everyone, no matter where they are from, has the right to live in safe and decent accommodation, and firefighters have the right to expect that they will not be recklessly endangered.
‘This is an industrial issue for the Fire Brigades Union, as our members are the ones expected to respond to any fire aboard the Bibby Stockholm. We have therefore decided to move towards a legal challenge on this matter.’
Britain’s asylum backlog topped 175,000 for the first time after 78,768 claims were made in the year to June, Home Office figures revealed last week.
A total of 175,457 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June 2023, up 44% from 122,213 at the end of June 2022. This was the highest figure since current records began in 2010.
But the Fire Brigade Union’s claims the Home Office failed to arrange fire drills for asylum seekers or adequate risk assessments of the Bibby Stockholm.
They said: ‘The [home secretary] has decided to crowd in an additional 284 people by using single rooms for double occupancy, and creating rooms for four or six persons to sleep in (presumably by converting other spaces).
‘The decision of the [home secretary] therefore creates an apparently entirely new, and highly dangerous accommodation arrangement, in which 506 traumatised asylum seekers may face a fire or hazardous materials emergency and need to evacuate the barge as an emergency, while being entirely untrained in fire safety, without even having undertaken fire drills. This situation is inherently unsafe.’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The health and welfare of asylum seekers remains of the utmost priority.
‘The Bibby Stockholm successfully completed all fire and safety checks ahead the first individuals boarding. The vessel completed a statutory inspection and refurbishment before undergoing final preparations to accommodate asylum seekers.’
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