Friday, 11 August 2023

How's That Barge Idea Working Out?

Someone somewhere doesn't want the immigrants housed on barges but it isn't the Government who have rushed to fill it up with immigrants while they deal with the applications so lets see how that's going.
Firstly they overlooked the protests from the locals in Portland and Weymouth and then dismissed fire safety concerns from the Fire Brigades Union that the vessel was a 'death trap' by saying it was 'perfectly decent accommodation for 500 people' and moved in 15 people on August 7 and 24 more on the 9th but then had to move them all out again today because Legionnaires disease was found in the water supply.
As part of his reassurances that it was 'perfectly decent accommodation', the water was tested on the 25th July and the results came back on the 7th  to say Legionnaires disease had been discovered and the Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick was made aware on the 9th August so the Government moved people in before the results of the checks had been known.
Obviously, due to all the negative publicity around the poor advance planning and preparation, the Government had wanted to get everybody onto the barge as quickly as possible but as with everything this Government touches, it turned into a catastrophe with the plan for two further barges postponed and returned to their owners due to  not being able to find a town or city willing to allow them to dock.
To add further to Rishi Sunak's discomfort, the number of people who have illegally crossed the English Channel in small boats since 2018 has now passed 100,000 which is almost a tenth of the 950,000 immigrants who have arrived legally in the UK in the same period.
Might be worth remembering next time the racists and bigots start shouting about us not having any room for the 100,000 who risked their life to come here and escape persecution and war because the 950,000 is the number the Government can control and allowed into our green and pleasant land.

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