Labour says it would ‘temporarily’ house refugees on offshore barges

A Labour government would temporarily continue with the governemnt’s plan to house refugees on barges moored offshore, the party’s immigration minister has said. Speaking on Sunday Stephen Kinnock said his party would be “forced to” put people on the ships for a limited period of time, perhaps six months. Mr Kinnock said his party agreed with the government that asylum seekers should be moved out of hotel accommodation – the driving force behind Suella Braverman ‘s push to house them on ships and in military camps. The Home Office has scrambled to find alternatives to hotels amid criticism in the media and concerns over the cost of booking out the accommodation – but attempt to use bases, tents and barges have faced criticism from rights groups for being “inhumane”. “The reality is that we’ve got tens of thousands of people in hotels, we need to get them out of hotels and we need to get them off the barges and out of the military camps too,” Mr Kinnock told BBC Breakfast. “Because of the complete and utter chaos and shambles of the Tory asylum crisis, we are going to have to continue in a very short-term period to use the infrastructure that is there, including the barges and the hotels.” At the end of July the Home Office was forced to delay its plan to move people seeking asylum onto the Bibby Stockholm barge to carry out last-minute safety checks. It came after more 50 organisations and campaigners, including the Refugee Council, Refugee Action, and Asylum Matters called the government’s plan for the floating accommodation ‘cruel and inhumane’. But speaking on Sunday, Mr Kinnock said: “We will be forced to use these contingency measures because of the mess the Government has made. “I’m confident that within six months of a Labour government we will be getting on top of the backlog and clearing people out of hotels and putting them into suitable accommodation, or removing them from the country properly because they have no right to be here.” A Border Force vessel carrying a group of people thought to be migrants arrives in Dover, Kent, following a small boat incident in the Channel PA A Sotheby’s handler examines cat memorabilia on display, during Sotheby’s ‘Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own’ press preview in London REUTERS Pedestrians walk along the River Thames towards Westminster Bridge in London Reuters Lauren James scores England’s fourth goal of the game during the Women’s World Cup 2023, Group D match against China at the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, Australia PA Empty deckchairs during bad weather in Folkestone PA England’s Stuart Broad walks out to bat with James Anderson, after announcing his retirement from cricket the evening before, prior to day four of the Ashes 5th Test match against Australia at The Oval Getty People taking part in the 2023 Belfast Pride Parade PA Members of the Transmanian Devils rugby union team take part in their inaugural training boot camp at Sale Sports Club in Manchester AFP/Getty Rylan Clark recreates Kendall Jenner’s heart hair selfie to mark the launch of Samsung’s new nationwide selfie competition, offering entrants the chance to win £500,000 PA Campaigners, including many who are personally infected and affected by infected blood, gather in Westminster, London, calling for compensation for victims to be authorised by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is giving evidence later to the Infected Blood inquiry PA Storm clouds gather over St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay on the north east coast of England PA Women embrace each other as one of them arrives at Gatwick Airport after being evacuated off the Greek island of Rhodes Reuters People enjoying the weather on Bournemouth beach in Dorset PA Newly elected Labour MP Keir Mather (left), with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Selby football club, North Yorkshire, after winning the Selby and Ainsty by-election PA Tony Blair (left) speaks with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change’s Future of Britain Conference in central London PA David Barber, the King’s Swan Marker, examines a swan during the annual census of the swan population along sections of the River Thames Reuters Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz holds the winner’s trophy after beating Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during their men’s singles final tennis match on the last day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships AFP/Getty Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur is interviewed in the Media Theatre in the Broadcast Centre after her defeat in the final of the Ladies’ Singles on day thirteen of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London PA Wire His Majesty The King’s Coronation Ensemble and Her Majesty The Queen’s Coronation Ensemble, during a photo call for the new Coronation display for the summer opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. 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PA A peregrine falcon nesting at Malham Cove, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park PA Newborn alpaca Sir Steveo, who has been named after one of his keepers, ventures outside in the Pets Farm area of Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling PA Grace Kumar’s father and Barnaby Webber’s brother, Charlie, embrace ahead of a vigil at the University of Nottingham after they and Ian Coates were killed and another three hurt in connected attacks on 13 June PA Police forensics officers on Ilkeston Road PA People relax in a suspended swimming pool as hot weather continues, in London Reuters Usain Bolt and teammates celebrate with the trophy after winning Soccer Aid 2023 Action Images via Reuters It comes after Rishi Sunak was accused of ‘cooking the books’ by removing thousands of asylum claims from the system. The Independent reported that more than 6,000 people have been wiped off the list without being fully assessed in just three months. Meanwhile Home Secretary Suella Braverman attacked the legal profession in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, branding immigration lawyers “criminals and conmen” who should be in prison. “These so-called immigration lawyers, who have been very powerfully exposed as being criminals and conmen, coaching migrants on how to lie to get through our system, how to game our system, how to play our rules, they are cheating the British people,” said MsBraverman. She added: “We’ve got a racket, we’ve got an industry of people who are purporting to be professional, purporting to be legitimate, but actually under the surface are lying or cheating and breaking the law, and we need to crack down on them.”