Summary of the day
Downing Street declined to say when asylum seekers might be returned to the Bibby Stockholm barge, after traces of legionella bacteria were found. The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “We’re not putting a timeline on that. We do expect them to be back on to the boat as soon as possible.”
Asked if the prime minister still had confidence in the home secretary, Suella Braverman, and the work of the Home Office after the Bibby Stockholm evacuation, No 10 said yes.
The health secretary, Steve Barclay, claimed that ministers at the Home Office were only informed of the situation on Thursday night, and acted swiftly. Thirty nine people were removed from the vessel on Friday. He backed people being returned to the vessel.
Former home secretary Priti Patel has accused the government of being “secretive” and “evasive” about plans to house asylum seekers on a disused RAF base.
Rishi Sunak’s government has attempted to define this week’s media activity as being about the NHS, and immediately sparked a row with devolved administrations over a call by the UK health secretary that waiting patients in Scotland and Wales would be welcomed to get treatment faster in England, where a record 7.6 million people are on NHS waiting lists.
The Welsh health minister, Eluned Morgan, described Barclay’s comments as a “naked political hit” and said “the fact is we measure very, very differently. We count in our statistics diagnostics and therapies. None of those are counted in the English figures. He should concentrate on his job and I will concentrate on mine.”
The Scottish health secretary, Michael Matheson, said: “The NHS in England is about to experience its fifth round of strikes by junior doctors. Rather than attempting to involve themselves in devolved areas, the UK government would be well served focusing on tackling the many issues in the health service south of the border.”
Barclay would not be drawn on claims that two-thirds of cancer targets in NHS England will be scrapped. Asked about the newspaper reports he said: “There is a consultation at the moment, the story relates to a leak, and ministers don’t comment on leaks.”
The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has accused the government of “moving the goalposts” on cancer targets in England. During a visit to Edinburgh he said “under the last Labour government, we had targets, we hit those targets. We didn’t walk away when the going got tough. With this government, it’s targets that they’ve repeatedly failed to hit. And now what they’re doing is moving the goalposts and even where they’re keeping targets after this streamlining, there’s targets they’re still not hitting.”
Sinn Féin’s policing spokesperson, Gerry Kelly, has described as “sinister” the posting of documents, purporting to be part of a major Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) data leak, on a wall facing its offices on the Falls Road in Belfast. Kelly said the document, with the names of officers removed, was posted on the wall overnight alongside his photo and a threatening message. PSNI assistant chief constable Chris Todd said: “We are aware that some redacted information from the Tuesday 8 August data breach has allegedly been posted on a wall in west Belfast today. We have commenced an investigation into this matter.”
Starmer has played down any assertions of a split between Scottish and UK Labour. “Anas and I have got a very, very strong working relationship,” he said, referring to the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar.
Starmer also responded to comments from Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, that a minority Labour government would be “the best outcome for Scotland”. The Labour leader said: “I want a majority Labour government so that we can fix and rebuild our country and take our country forward, so that’s what I’m aiming for. I’m not going to do a deal with the SNP, and among the reasons for that is the appalling record they’ve got in government.”
I will be closing the live blog shortly. Thank you for all your comments, and I will see you here again tomorrow.
Updated
I notice in the comments a few of you have questioned the John Redwood quote in the opinion piece I linked to earlier, notably the bit about “loose language by some on both sides of the migration debate”:
The recent use of swear words and loose language by some on both sides of the migration debate creates much heat but little light on a sensitive subject. Left and right agree that the people smugglers are evil, exploiting some vulnerable asylum seekers and some economic migrants who are persuaded to try to cheat the system. All agree we need to stop the dangerous small boats. None of us want to see people drowning.
I’m going to assume that he was referring to Diane Abbott’s deleted tweet, her response to Lee Anderson’s comments that disgruntled asylum seekers should “fuck off back to France”, that “these migrants have indeed fucked off. To the bottom of the sea” following the deaths of 41 migrants in a shipwreck off Italy. There did appear to be a concerted effort on social media to whip up some outrage about Abbott’s use of language, which Redwood presumably saw, despite the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, having defended Anderson’s choice of words.
A reminder you can read that panel in full here: Can Sunak’s rightwing war on ‘woke’, migrants and the environment save the Tories?
Updated
