Bibby Stockholm: First asylum seekers to board barge

The first 50 asylum seekers will be moved to the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland later, the BBC has been told.

Up to 500 men aged 18-65 will be housed on the barge while they await the outcome of their asylum application.

The floating accommodation block was docked off the Dorset coast nearly three weeks ago, and has been empty since due to health and safety worries.

But ministers have said the vessel is safe and functional.

Home Office sources have said the barge is ready to host its first group of asylum seekers, and the BBC understands that some people were told to expect to be moved on Monday.

The government has said the vessel offers basic and functional accommodation and it previously housed oil and gas workers - as well as asylum seekers in other countries.

However, the key difference is that its capacity - which used to be 222 - has been doubled to 500 by putting bunk beds in its cabins, and converting some communal rooms into dormitories for four to six men.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said the government still planned to increase capacity to 500 despite concerns from the Fire Brigades Union that the vessel had originally been designed to house around 200 people.

The government has repeatedly said the barge will be better value for British taxpayers and more manageable for local communities.

But there has been considerable local opposition to the plan, due to concerns about the asylum seekers' welfare, as well as the potential impact on local services.

More than 40 organisations and campaigners have called the plans "cruel and inhumane" in an open letter to barge owner Bibby Marine.

The Bibby Stockholm is the first vessel secured under Home Secretary Suella Braverman's plans to reduce the cost of asylum accommodation.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Sunday, shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said barges would continue to be used by a Labour government if his party won the next general election.

Mr Kinnock said that due to "the complete and utter chaos and shambles of the Tory asylum crisis", Labour would use barges and hotels to house asylum seekers during "a very short-term period".

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper had previously indicated she would not be able to immediately shut down the sites but declined to be explicit about the policy.