Asylum seeker accommodation barge could be located at Teesport

Stockton North MP, Alex Cunningham, is calling on the Government to "stick to their word" on asylum seekers being housed on Teesside,

It's as reports that one of 2 new giant barges, providing accommodation for refugees, will be moored at Teesport.

Rishi Sunak has revealed two vessels will be used for accommodation - at the same time as he insisted his plan to stop Channel crossings was "starting to work".

According to The Guardian, these are expected to be moored at Teesport in the North East as well as in docks close to Liverpool.

The Home Office refused to comment on the reports, although the Government is expected to confirm which locations will be used in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Alex Cunningham has demanded the Home Secretary 'stick to her word' and not increase the number of asylum seekers accommodated on Teesside.

His letter follows the proposal that one of the Conservative Government’s asylum seeker accommodation barges announced by the Prime Minister yesterday will be based at Teesport. This is despite clear commitments to North East local authorities from Ministers that no additional asylum seekers would be housed in the region until other areas meet their requirements.

Alex said:

“The proposal to moor an accommodation barge at Teesport flies in the face of the commitment given from Ministers to local authorities in the North East that the North East would not take on additional asylum seekers while other areas are still “under quota”.

“The North East and Teesside is a welcoming region with our people, charities and organisations providing all manner of support to some of the most vulnerable in society – and often stepping in when Home Office provision falls short. Our local authorities also play a major role in ensuring people are supported and looked after and not one has shirked their responsibilities but services in areas like ours are already very stretched and it would not be appropriate for hundreds more people being moved to a barge on the Tees.

“I will be writing to the Home Secretary asking that she stick to her commitment to the North East not to increase the asylum seeker numbers further in our area by siting asylum seeker accommodation on the Tees.”

It comes after the Prime Minister declined to say where the two new barges would be moored amid widespread speculation one could be based on Merseyside.

The newspaper also cited sources which said discussions over the acquisition of further barges and disused cruise ships had taken place, meaning thousands of asylum seekers could be housed in vessels on Tyneside near Newcastle, Harwich in Essex, Felixstowe in Suffolk and the Royal London docks near City Airport. These reports have not been confirmed.

In a speech in Kent on Monday, Mr Sunak said the number of people making the journey across the Channel was down by around a fifth since last year but acknowledged the Government has "a long way still to go".

But during his visit to Dover, he played down suggestions that fewer crossings were a result of poor weather conditions at this time of year rather than policy decisions.

Opposition critics likened the announcement of yet more measures to tackle the crisis to "Groundhog Day" and accused Mr Sunak of "cynical spin".

It comes as peers threatened to delay the Illegal Migration Bill until the Government publishes the "facts and figures" showing the financial implications of the proposals.

Opposition peers called for the proposed legislation to be stopped from progressing further through Parliament until the findings of an economic impact assessment could be considered.

The Telegraph said Mr Sunak indicated he was open to using the Parliament Act to push through the Bill if needed. The rarely used law allows the Commons to overrule the Lords.