Rishi Sunak vows to use 'as many barges as it takes' to house migrants amid Archbishop of Canterbury criticism
14 May 2023, 07:23
Rishi Sunak has pledged to secure "as many barges as it takes" to house migrants, after criticism from the Archbishop of Canterbury and his own party.
The Bibby Stockholm, a giant barge that can house 500 people, arrived in Falmouth last week.
It comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury hit out at the government's Illegal Migration Bill as "morally unacceptable" last week.
Speaking in the House of Lords, Justin Welby argued against the flagship legislation aimed at ensuring people who arrive in the UK in small boats would be detained and promptly removed, either to their home country or a third country such as Rwanda.
He said: "This bill has no sense at all of the long term and the global nature of the challenge that the world faces.
"It ignores the reality that global migration must be engaged with at source as well as in the Channel as if we as a country were unrelated to the rest of the world."
But Mr Sunak said he would not wait for the bill to pass to take further action.
He told the Mail on Sunday: "I respectfully disagree with the Archbishop on this and I've spoken about it a lot. The number of illegal crossings last year was 45,000. That number has gone up four or five times in just a couple of years and it can't carry on like this.:
Controversial migrants bill slammed as 'morally unacceptable'
But the Prime Minister said: 'I don't think it's right that the British taxpayers are forking out £5.5 million a day to house illegal asylum seekers, that hotels in their communities are being taken over for this use. So barges are a solution to that and we will do as many as it takes.
"We want to deliver that Bill and what I can also tell you is that I'm not waiting for that moment to happen. We are getting ready now.
"So, we have put in place a new government committee structure, a bit like how we ran things during the pandemic, where I chair meetings twice a week so that we can get everything ready so that from the moment that we have the green light we can crack on and deliver it."
The House of Lords sat earlier from 11am on Wednesday to consider the Illegal Migration Bill at second reading after it passed the Commons, with almost 90 speakers including the archbishop listed.
The Bill includes provisions that would limit the ability of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to prevent the deportation of asylum seekers.
April was the busiest period for small boats so far this year, with 1,850 of this year's 5,652 arrivals making the journey last month.
But the archbishop added that the bill does not make any effort to tackle issues that are causing mass migration, including wars and climate change.
"It is isolationist, it is morally unacceptable and politically impractical," he said.
But Mr Welby said the Bill "risks great damage to the UK's interests and reputation at home and abroad, let alone the interests of those in need of protection or the nations who together face this challenge."
He added: "Our interests as a nation are closely linked to our reputation for justice and the rule of law, and to our measured language, calm decision, and careful legislation. None of those are seen here."
He went on: "We need a Bill to reform migration. We need a Bill to stop the boats. We need a Bill to destroy the evil tribe of traffickers. The tragedy is that without much change this is not that Bill.
"This Bill fails to take a long term and strategic view of the challenges of migration and undermines international co-operation rather than taking an opportunity for the UK to show leadership."
Mr Welby said that the UK should be leading in global efforts to help migrants.
He said he planned to table amendments to the Bill at committee stage to introduce efforts to combat human traffickers.
Read more: Explained: What are Rishi Sunak's new immigration laws?
The proposed Bill has been prompted by Mr Sunak's pledge to "stop the boats" bringing migrants across the English Channel.
More than 6,000 migrants have crossed the channel so far in 2023.
But critics argue the flagship immigration reforms break international law and threaten modern slavery protections.
Mr Sunak's latest comments come after critics within his own party said that Conservative leaders were out of touch with the Tory grassroots.
Former Home Secretary Ms Patel said at a Conservative Democratic Organisation conference on Saturday that if senior Tories spent more time with members "they would be more in touch with the people and with our values".
She added that "perhaps if they did that, last week we would not have seen 1,000 of our friends and colleagues lose their seats in the local elections and dozens of councils fall out of Conservative control."
