Up to 50 people could be moved to the Bibby Stockholm barge, docked in Portland Port, Dorset, as early as today. Ministers say this is a more cost-effective way of housing migrants, while refugee campaigners have condemned the policy as “cruel and inhumane”.
What is clear is that this will do little to clear the asylum backlog, which currently sits at roughly 170,000 people, nearly 130,000 of whom have been waiting longer than six months. Nor is it likely to act as a deterrent for the desperate people risking their lives in small boats.
