Rishi Sunak has insisted that his government is committed to its controversial plans to house asylum seekers on a barge after a series of setbacks which have frustrated a flagship “stop the boats” policy.
In his first comments since people due to be housed on the Bibby Stockholm were removed from the vessel when traces of legionella bacteria were found in the water supply, he argued that the approach was fairer for the taxpayer than putting up asylum seekers in hotels.
However, the prime minister avoided a question about whether he was personally warned about potential health risks for asylum seekers onboard the barge.
“It is right that we go through all the checks and procedures to ensure the wellbeing and health of the people being housed on the barge,” he told broadcasters on a visit to a hospital in Milton Keynes.
Over the weekend, the Home Office was involved in a “blame game” over the response to the legionella outbreak. Briefings have claimed that the local council told two contractors about it last Monday, but ministers were not informed until late on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Will Quince, the health minister, suggested people could return to the barge within days, describing the legionella scare as a “teething issue”.
Sunak, who has returned to work after a family holiday in California, told broadcasters that ministers were taking a fair approach when it came to the small boats crisis, adding: “But taking a step back, what is this about? This is about fairness.
“It is about the unfairness, in fact, of British taxpayers forking out £5m or £6m a day to house illegal migrants in hotels up and down the country, with all the pressure that puts on local communities.
“We’ve got to find alternatives to that. That is what the barge is about and that is why we are committed to it. I know there is a long way to go on this but I’m determined to fix this problem and we are making progress and people can be reassured we will keep at it.”
Sunak’s “stop the boats” plan is one of five flagship pledges on which he has pinned re-election hopes, but the EU has rejected reports that it is not open to a new deal with the UK on returning people who have crossed the Channel.
A leaked copy of a memo on discussions with the UK’s national security adviser, Sir Tim Barrow, was reported to have included mention of an aide to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, ruling out a post-Brexit “returns agreement”.
Von der Leyen’s aide Bjoern Seibert reportedly said in the memo: “The commission is not open to a UK-EU readmissions agreement.”
However, a spokesperson for the commission denied Seibert had said what was attributed to him in the memo, which was reported by the Daily Mail and the Times. “We have checked and Mr Seibert did not say that,” the commission spokesperson said when asked about the memo.
Sunak has pushed for a bilateral returns agreement with France but Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has said any deal must be at an EU level.
