Thomas-Symonds on barges: ‘We have to address asylum situation we inherit’

Nick Thomas-Symonds has argued Labour will “have to address the situation that we inherit” in regards to the asylum system if the party comes into power, after the opposition said it would temporarily continue the use of barges to house migrants.

Asked on Sunday whether Labour would continue the use of barges, Stephen Kinnock said the party will be “left with no choice but to deal with the mess we inherit” though he said the idea made him “deeply unhappy” as it was the last thing the party would want to do.

Speaking to Sky News this morning, Thomas-Symonds said: “We of course don’t have control over what the asylum accommodation position is on the day that we come into power. We have to address the situation that we inherit.

“But our policy is to drive the backlog down so that we don’t have to use the barges, we don’t have to use the bases, we don’t have to use the hotels and we can go back to using that long-standing asylum accommodation that was used for many, many years before. That’s the hard work of driving this backlog down.”

Asked whether Labour was lowering the British public’s expectations before coming into power, the Shadow International Trade Secretary said: “It’s not a question of lowering expectations.

“It’s a question of being open and upfront with the British public about the chaos that we are going to inherit but also the direction that we then want to go in, which is best for those people trapped in the system but also best value for the taxpayer.”

The Labour frontbencher argued that the government is “completely failing” on migration, telling viewers: “They have a 173,000 people now who are in the backlog in our asylum system. That’s the reason that they’ve ended up having to use hotels and bases and now this barge.

“They are there because of their chronic failure. What they actually need to do is, instead of the gimmicks, instead of the headline-chasing, they need to put a proper plan in place to get that asylum backlog down.”

Asylum seekers could start being housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset as soon as today, according to Sky News, with around 50 people expected to be in the first group to board the vessel.

Home Office minister Sarah Dines said this morning the barge sends a “forceful message that there will be proper accommodation but not luxurious”, claiming that “luxurious hotel accommodation” has been part of the pull factor for migrants travelling to the UK.

Kinnock told Sky News on Sunday: “The last 13 years have seen the Conservative government’s incompetence and neglect destroying our asylum system, so we’re in a situation now where they’re having to scramble to use hotels, to use barges, to use military bases.

“We’re going to inherit a mess if we’re privileged to form the next government and we’re going to have to fix that mess and we will do so as quickly as possible to get people out of hotels and off the barges and out of military camps.

“But the reality is, on day one of a Labour government, we will have to deal with the infrastructure that we have and the complete chaotic shambolic mess that the Conservative government will have left us.”