THE Bibby Stockholm The barge, which has become a symbol of the failure of Conservative policy to tackle small boats, is to be closed by the new Labour government.
The contract for the boat on which asylum seeker Leonard Farruku was found dead last year in a suspected suicide will not be renewed when it expires in January.
The announcement came on a day when 12 damning reports from the National Audit Office (NAO) revealed the scale of the chaos left by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government, with billions wasted and “systematic failures” across departments.
Auditors found billions of taxpayers’ money was wasted or misspent on services ranging from fixing potholes, funding HS2, running the NHS, schools and tackling chronic homelessness.
Highlights of the 12 NAO reports include:
Labour Party leader Ellie Reeves said: “These reports expose the chaos left by the Tories. Abandoned projects, a staggering waste of taxpayers’ money and ‘unprecedented’ challenges to our NHS: this is the legacy the Tories have left after 14 years in power. And it is up to the Labour government to pick up the pieces.”
But a Conservative Party spokesman said: “Much more worrying is Labour’s refusal to commit to investing £30 billion in essential transport in the North and Midlands. This will boost connectivity and economic growth across the region and abandoning it was not included in their manifesto.”
THE Bibby Stockholm The contract announcement is part of Labour’s plan to make £7.7bn in savings on asylum costs over the next decade. Extending the contract for a detention centre described as “inhumane” would have cost an extra £20m.
Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, said the Home Office had put in place plans to save money on accommodation, which “represents huge bills for the taxpayer”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday outlined plans to tackle the backlog of asylum applications, which the department said would save “billions of pounds”, after she also revealed the government had wasted £700 million on the programme to deport Rwandans.
The Home Office revealed last year that the barge, moored in Dorset, was costing taxpayers £41,000 a day, or £205 per person. That’s more than the £140 a night estimated for a hotel stay.
The three-storey barge, which can accommodate 500 people, has been used to house male asylum seekers aged 18 to 65 since August 2023.
Lloyd Hatton, MP for South Dorset, described the barge, commissioned by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, as an “impractical, expensive and ineffective gimmick”, accusing the previous government of failing to listen to the concerns of the local community.
Mr Hatton added: “I will now spend every day ensuring that the closure of the barge is carried out in an orderly manner. We must not forget that the previous Conservative government landed our community with the barge.”
“The previous [government and] “The Conservative MP failed to listen to our concerns from the outset. That’s the difference a Labour MP working hand in glove with a Labour government can make.”
Dame Angela said: “We are determined to restore order to the asylum system, so that it works quickly, firmly and fairly, and ensures that the rules are properly applied.”
Steve Smith, Managing Director of Care4Calais, said: “The Bibby Stockholm has become a physical symbol of the last government’s inhumane treatment of people seeking refuge in the UK.
“The despair and suffering caused by the barge will long remain in the memories of the residents who lived there. The non-renewal of the contract will not bring back Leonard Farruku, whose family has lost a loved one forever.”
The barge was just one aspect of the previous government’s policies that came under scrutiny yesterday.
An NAO report warned: “The scale of the challenge facing the NHS today and likely to arise in the years ahead is unprecedented.”
Another noted: “Tackling homelessness is creating unsustainable financial pressure for some local authorities.”
On HS2, he warned that the government and the delivery company must “agree a realistic budget to deliver it and restore control so that risks and costs can be managed effectively and benefits delivered to both passengers and taxpayers”.
On potholes, the NAO said: “The Department for Transport (DfT) does not currently have a sufficiently accurate understanding of the condition of local roads and is not using the limited data it has to allocate its funding as effectively as possible.”
Edmund King, AA chairman, said: “The NAO report is a damning indictment of the state of England’s local roads and their maintenance.”
Elaine Kelly, head of economic research at the Health Foundation, said: “The NAO report paints a picture of systemic failures and ineffective decision-making, including low spending growth, chronic underinvestment in capital and a culture of accepting unrealistic targets. For patients, this has contributed to longer waiting times and declining satisfaction with the health service.”
