UK gov't rejects claims it was slow to evacuate asylum-seekers after bacteria detected on barge

LONDON (AP) — Britain's government Monday rejected claims that it was slow to evacuate asylum-seekers from a barge moored off the south coast of England once traces of the bacteria that causes Legionnaire's disease were found in the ship's water system.

In the latest critique of the government's ballyhooed efforts to control migration and reduce the cost of housing a rising number of asylum-seekers, local health officials said over the weekend that the barge operator was told about the bacteria last Monday — the day before asylum-seekers were moved onto the Bibby Stockholm.

But Health Secretary Steve Barclay said ministers weren't informed about the bacteria until Thursday and they took “very quick action.”

The Home Office, the central government department that oversees migration, moved all 39 men who were being housed on the ship into other accommodation on Friday.

Questions about the government's response to the bacteria issue came after immigration dominated the weekend news, with a surge of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats during a period of good weather and at least six people dying when one boat sank off the coast of France.

More than 1,600 people arrived in England on 30 boats from August 10-12, the government said Monday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping the boats a key goal as he looks for issues that will bolster voter support for his Conservative Party, which is trailing badly in opinion polls, ahead of a general election that is expected to take place next year.

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