A Tory minister was left floundering on live TV as he struggled to explain the latest delay to the government’s plans to deal with asylum seekers.
Richard Holden was skewered by Sky News’s Jayne Secker after it emerged the Bibby Stockholm migrant barge is still undergoing safety checks amid claims it could become a “floating Grenfell”.
The vessel, which is docked at Portland Port in Dorset, will eventually house around 500 asylum seekers who have arrived in the UK via illegal routes.
The first migrants were due to go on board today, but that has been delayed after fire safety concerns were raised.
Holden, who is transport minister, was unable to say this morning when it will finally be up and running.
He said: “It’s going through its final checks at the moment. It’s right that whatever accommodation we provide is safe and secure as well. I can’t put a timeframe on it.
“The checks are gonna take as long as they’re gonna take. It’s important that we get these things right.”
Holden then tried to shift the discussion onto the government’s attempts to reduce illegal immigration and accused Labour of doing “everything they could to water down those measures”.
He added: “We’re being fought every step of the way by both the opposition and their friends in the legal community as well, trying to frustrate our efforts.”
Secker then said: “So are you blaming the Labour Party for the Bibby Stockholm not being open?”
Holden replied: “We just have a very different point of view on it to the Labour Party and I think it’s really important that we take every measure possible, whether it’s trying to get the Rwanda scheme up and running [or] whether it’s trying to sort out new accommodation.”
Secker then asked if the Bibby Stockholm barge would be delayed as long as the plan to send migrants to Rwananda, which was announced nearly 18 months ago and is still not up and running.
Holden said: “I can’t comment on the ongoing process of checks and things that have to take place, but it is in my understanding in its final checks.”
A Home Office spokesperson told The Guardian: “Delivering accommodation on surplus military sites and vessels will provide cheaper and more orderly, suitable accommodation for those arriving in small boats.
“The Bibby Stockholm is now undergoing final preparations to ensure it complies with all appropriate regulations before the arrival of the first asylum seekers in the coming weeks.”