Asylum seekers could start being housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge as soon as today as the government unveils a new crackdown on illegal migration.
About 50 people are expected to be in the first group of migrants to board the vessel docked in Portland Port, Dorset, despite local opposition.
The developments come as the government begins a so-called “small boats week” – with a series of announcements on the issue that Rishi Sunak has promised to solve.
Politics Live: Landlords and employers to be hit in new policy to tackle illegal migration
This includes a huge increase in fines for landlords and employers who house and give work to illegal immigrants.
The government is also considering reviving plans to fly people who arrive by unauthorised means 4,000 miles to Ascension Island in a bid to clear the asylum backlog and deter people from crossing the Channel, multiple reports on Monday suggested.
Safeguarding minister Sarah Dines would not confirm or deny this but told Sky News the government is looking at “all possibilities”.
She said the first occupants of Bibby Stockholm are expected to arrive “in the coming days”, describing the situation in the Channel as “urgent”.
The minister would not confirm an exact date for “operational” reasons, although Sky News understands 50 single males are set to move on board today.
The plan has faced weeks of delays amid safety concerns raised by the Fire Brigade Union, which has branded the site a “potential death trap”.
Inside the Bibby Stockholm barge
Defending the plan, Ms Dines said the barge “sends a forceful message that there will be proper accommodation but not luxurious”.
“Luxurious hotel accommodation has been part of the pull, I’m afraid,” she said.
“There have been promises made abroad by the organised criminal gangs and organisations which have tried to get people into the country unlawfully and they say, ‘You will be staying in a very nice hotel in the middle of a town in England’.
“That needs to stop and the barge is just one of a wide range of other measures.”
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What’s it like onboard the Bibby Stockholm?
Govt ‘looking at all possibilities’
The Bibby Stockholm will ultimately house 500 asylum seekers, which Ms Dines later suggested could happen by the end of the week.
Asked about the Ascension Island reports, Ms Dines said the government is “looking at all possibilities”.
She told Sky News “times change” when asked why the plan was reportedly being reconsidered after seemingly being rejected by Boris Johnson’s former government.
“We look at all possibilities. This crisis in the Channel is urgent, we need to look at all possibilities and that is what we are doing.”
The proposals to use the British Overseas Territory are apparently being considered as a “plan B” if the Rwanda plan fails.
The controversial deportation scheme has been stalled by legal challenges that will end up in the Supreme Court.
Deep in the South Atlantic, Ascension Island could be used to house an asylum processing centre as an alternative attempt to reduce the number of small boats crossing the Channel – something Mr Sunak has staked his premiership on.
Government ‘completely failing’
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‘Proper plan needed to get asylum backlog down’
On Monday it was announced civil penalties for employers will be increased up to a maximum of £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for repeat offenders, tripling both from the last increase in 2014.
Landlords face fines going from £1,000 per occupier to £10,000, with repeat breaches going from £3,000 to £20,000. Penalties relating to lodgers will also be hiked.
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Home Secretary Suella Braverman (centre) tours a building site on the outskirts of Kigali during her visit to Rwanda
But Labour said the measures would do nothing to deter people from crossing the Channel as it accused the government of “completely failing in this area”.
Shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told Sky News: “They have 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 (military) bases and now this barge.
“They are there because of their chronic failure.”