Britain is trapped in political purgatory – waiting for its undead government to fall

‘Where rights available to a refugee blur into conditions imposed on a criminal.’ The Bibby Stockholm, near Dorset. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

The language of bureaucracy, while rarely poetic, sometimes has a sinister eloquence. Residents on board the Bibby Stockholm, the barge moored in Dorset to house asylum claimants, are classified by the Home Office as “non-detained” persons. They are not imprisoned, but nor are they free.

Occupants of the vessel can travel to places “agreed with local agencies” on special buses provided by the Home Office. They are not subject to a curfew, but there is a register. Checks are made to count people out and in again.