A Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) has called on the UK government to provide safety reports for a barge that is being used to house asylum seekers. The Bibby Stockholm, which is expected to accommodate 500 individuals awaiting decisions on their asylum applications, departed from Cornwall and is en route to its new dock at Portland Port">Portland Port in Dorset. However, Chris Loder, the MP representing West Dorset, has raised concerns that the barge is being used beyond its designed capacity.
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Loder has written to Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Transport Minister Baroness Vere, urging them to either halt the use of the barge or provide safety assessments demonstrating that it can handle double the weight it was originally designed for. He has been requesting visibility of the safety risk assessments for months but has not received them to date.
