Politics latest: Questions remain over discovery of Legionella on migrant barge; Labour leader visits Scotland (2024)

A total of 111 people were detected crossing the English Channel in small boats on Monday, the Home Office said today.

The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2023 now stands at a provisional total of 16,790.

For comparison, total arrivals last year were 45,755.

Two boats were detected crossing the Channel on Monday, which suggests an average of around 56 people per boat.

The total number of small boat arrivals so far this year is around 17% below the equivalent number at this point last year.

Upwards of 20,200 people had made the crossing by August 14 2022, compared with 16,790 detected so far in 2023.

Many Afghan families have been let down by the UK government, a thinktank has said, as it called for lessons to be learned after a number of failures.

More In Common, a thinktank founded after the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, recognised some success at resettling thousands of refugees following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan two years ago today but said there had been failings in key areas such as housing and accommodation, funding and integration of Afghans into local communities.

Veterans minister Johnny Mercer has said he recognises that some Afghan refugees have had a "very difficult experience" and admitted that some things "could have been done differently".

In 2021, the government promised a "significant cross-government effort", nicknamed "Operation Warm Welcome", to "ensure Afghans arriving in the UK receive the vital support they need to rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education and integrate into their local communities".

While thousands have since moved into settled accommodation, many remain in hotels and were given a deadline by the government of the end of August to find alternative housing, prompting warnings of homelessness.

You can read more from Sky News in the link below:

It was billed as "small boats week" - a series of government announcements designed to show progress on the issue of cross channel migration. But the reality of the past seven days has got in the way.

The 30 or so migrants who had been moved on to a housing barge off Dorset had to be moved out after Legionella was found onboard and Thursday also saw the highest daily number of people crossing the channel this year.

On the Sky News Daily, Rob Powell asks Peter Walsh, from the Migration Observatory, if migration policies impact people's decisions to travel to the UK, and he speaks to fellow political correspondent Amanda Akass about why the government has picked ending small boats crossings as one of its five pledges ahead of the next election.

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Rishi Sunak has been urged to apologise to students who missed out on months of vital education during the pandemic.

The Liberal Democrats pointed to analysis which suggests those receiving their A-level results this week each lost 48.5 days of learning.

Munira Wilson said no student should be forced to miss out on a university place because of the government's "incompetence".

She added: "This cohort of students should be proud of the results they got in the face of huge, unprecedented challenges. They achieved this despite Conservative ministers who ignored the scale of the chaos that the pandemic caused to children's studies.

"Liberal Democrats believe that education is an investment in our children's futures. The government should reverse the cuts to the pupil premium and extend it to our colleges."

In analysis released in July 2021, researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the University of Exeter estimated that pupils in England each lost around 61 days of schooling during COVID.

But the Lib Dems estimate that this year's cohort of A-level pupils in state schools in England - who returned to school earlier than other groups during the first lockdown - each lost 48.5 days of learning on average.

The students who are awaiting their A-level results did not take GCSE exams and were awarded results determined by their teachers.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesman said: "We should be celebrating pupils' achievements and not undermining their efforts."

RAF Typhoon jets intercepted Russian bombers flying north of Scotland in the early hours of Monday morning, the UK government has said.

Typhoon fighters were scrambled to intercept two Russian long-range maritime patrol bombers as they transited near the Shetland Islands within NATO's northern air policing area, the government added.

The UK quick reaction alert (QRA) jets were launched from RAF Lossiemouth in northeast Scotland and the two Russian bombers were monitored in international airspace as they flew north of the UK.

A Voyager refuelling tanker was also launched and remained airborne for the duration of the mission - not specified by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) - to offer air-to-air refuelling to the Typhoon fighters if needed.

Minister for the armed forces, James Heappey, said: "RAF crews at Lossiemouth maintain a constant watch over UK airspace and are always ready to take action at a moment's notice to keep our country safe.

"Pilots launched in their Typhoon jets to intercept two Russian long-range bombers this morning, monitoring them as they passed north of the Shetland Islands, ready to counter any potential threat to UK territory."

You can read more from Sky News in the link below:

Ruairi Kelly, of Glasgow City Council, has described his experience living on the Bibby Stockholm barge whilst working in Shetland in 2013.

The vessel is docked in Portland, Dorset, at the moment, with plans for it to provide housing to up to 500 male asylum seekers.

The first arrivals left the barge days after arriving due to the discovery of traces of the Legionella bacteria.

He said he found the barge liveable, but stressed it was a very different situation to the asylum seekers - as he left to go to work.

The councillor said it would likely be "claustrophobic" for people who had to remain on the barge for many - if not all - hours of the day.

You can see more of what Mr Kelly had to say below:

Shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth has said the NHS is in a "desperate state" after 13 years of Conservative government.

Mr Ashworth said: "We've got waiting lists at the highest they've ever been in history, I mean yesterday we've got the minister moving the goal posts on cancer targets.

"You know when you've got cancer, you want treatment quickly. They've been missing all their targets on cancer, people are waiting longer.

"If you've got a child with a mental health condition... and they cannot get access to mental health care.

"We know that the NHS is in an absolutely disastrous state."

His comments come as the government has confirmed £250m of new funding for 30NHSorganisations across England ahead of the winter.

The Labour MP said he doesn't want to see junior doctors and NHS staff on strike, and the way to fix this is through "serious negotiation".

Health minister Will Quince told Sky News today that his door is "closed" for pay discussions.

Mr Ashworth said: "This is what happens when you run the NHS into the ground.

"It's all very well Rishi Sunak saying this is NHS week. He hasn't come up with any serious proposals to solve the problems in the NHS."

By Faith Ridler, politics reporter

The Bibby Stockholm was the cause of controversy before it even arrived in the port of Portland, Dorset, poised to house up to 500 asylum seekers.

The barge, which has a total of 222 bedrooms, will provide housing for exclusively men while they await the outcome of their asylum applications.

After much back and forth, 39 people arrived on the barge on 7 August - but were removed just four days later after traces of the Legionella bacteria was found.

It has been claimed that some of these asylum seekers - said to be staying at a hotel in Devon - have reported sore throats or coughs.

However, the Home Office said none of the migrants on the barge have shown any symptoms of the disease.

The timeline of the discovery of Legionella has been disputed, with a blame game erupting between Dorset Council, contractors at the barge and the Home Office.

So who has said what and, crucially, when?

Dorset Council has said Home Office contractors were notified about the results last Monday - four days before people were moved off the barge.

The council went on to claim a Home Office staff member was informed about the bacteria on Tuesday.

However, a government source previously told Sky News there was no record of this conversation, and claimed the Home Office only received a written notification about the Legionella on Wednesday evening.

Downing Street repeatedly said the government had acted quickly after being informed about the traces of Legionella bacteria.

Asked if ministers would be looking into the role of the contractors, he said: "I think we will be communicating with all relevant groups to see if there are any lessons that can be learned, as you would expect in any public health situation.

"We remain confident that we have acted quickly once informed."

However, Number 10 said the Home Office was still "clarifying" when officials were made aware of issues on the Bibby Stockholm barge.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will visit a hospital this morning after the government confirmed another £250m in funding ahead of the winter.

The funding for 30NHSorganisations across England will create 900 new beds in urgent and emergency care services to avoid patients needing to be admitted and occupying hospital spaces.

However, a health union boss has questioned who will staff these additional beds given the more than 40,000 nursing vacancies across the struggling services, while Labour has labelled the announcement a "sticking plaster" and called on Mr Sunak to "apologise for his party’s vandalism of the NHS".

The fresh injection of cash forms part of the two-year Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery plan, published in January, which aims to increase NHS capacity with 5,000 new beds, improve patient experience and reduce waiting times.

The NHS said it expects the majority of the urgent treatment and same-day emergency care expansion projects to be completed by January as the NHS comes under its usual severe winter pressures.

We'll bring you all the latest from the prime minister's visit later today.

Health minister Will Quince has insisted there will be no migrants re-embarking the Bibby Stockholm barge until it is "totally safe".

He was asked about the discovery of Legionella on the barge, which has been docked in Portland, Dorset, to house asylum seekers who arrive in the UK.

Mr Quince said: "Ministers found out on Thursday evening and then a decision was immediately taken to disembark those who were on the Bibby Stockholm.

"It's important that we should always prioritise public health, that is without question, but that is now being addressed and I hope that we will be able to in the coming days address that issue and then people will be able to embark back on to the Bibby Stockholm.

"I know that there won't be anyone going on to the Bibby Stockholm until it's totally safe."