UK secures two more barges to house asylum seekers | Rishi Sunak

The government has acquired two more giant barges to house 1,000 asylum seekers, Rishi Sunak has confirmed, as he claimed his plan to “stop the boats” is working.

The prime minister said he will “wait to announce” where the new barges will be located as there will be “extensive engagement” with local communities.

Attempting to gain a positive step forward on his mission to prevent refugees from crossing the Channel, Sunak claimed small boat crossings were down 20% – adding “our plan is starting to work”.

Speaking from Dover on Monday, after spending time in a flimsy boat to get a taste of the perilous journey, Sunak said: “Before I launched my plan in December, the number entering the UK illegally in small boats had more than quadrupled in two years. Some said this problem was insoluble, or just a fact of 21st-century life.

“They’d lost faith in politicians to put in the hard yards to do something about it. And of course, we still have a long way to go. But in the five months since I launched the plan, crossings are now down 20% compared to last year.

“This is the first time since this problem began that arrivals between January and May have fallen compared to the year before.”

Border force officials in Dover cited bad weather as one reason for the relatively small number of Channel crossings, but said extra funding enabled French officials to encourage some refugees to turn back when setting off on a poor quality boat.

When asked whether he had timed his press conference because of the exceptionally windy conditions in the Channel, resulting in fewer small boat crossings, Sunak said: “Of course the summer is coming. Of course gangs will keep trying different routes and different methodologies.

“We need to be alert to that. It’s why we need to pass the [illegal migration bill].

“It’s so important that the law passes because that will really help us resolve this problem.

“And in terms of the timing of my visit. There’s many things I can control, the weather is not one of them. I wish it was so.”

In his speech, the prime minister made a point of insisting asylum seekers should be “willing” to share a taxpayer-funded hotelafter reports that a large group were left in the streets of Westminster for two nights in a row. Westminster city council’s leader wrote to the home secretary, Suella Braverman, to express “deep concern” that about 40 refugees had been placed in the borough on Wednesday night.

“If you’re coming here illegally, claiming sanctuary from death, torture or persecution, then you should be willing to share a taxpayer-funded hotel room in central London,” Sunak said.

“To reduce pressures on local communities, we’ll also house people on ships, the first will arrive in Portland in the next fortnight and we’ve secured another two today that will accommodate another thousand.”

Keir Starmer said Sunak’s promises to tackle small-boat crossings was “like groundhog day”.

Speaking from Somerset, the Labour leader said: “I think everybody wants to make sure that we stop the boats, we don’t want people making that dangerous journey.

“All we’ve really had from the government though is the announcement of a policy that doesn’t work and then the reannouncement of the same policy, essentially.

“It often feels, I think, like groundhog day and meanwhile that’s costing a fortune for the taxpayer and there’s this growing sense of frustration.”