Skip to main content
Prison barges are part of Britain’s imperial history
In 1848 black Chartist prisoners were kept on prison hulks — in 2023 asylum-seekers are to be kept on barges. Little changes for those the state wants to want to keep out of the way, writes KEITH FLETT
FLOATING PRISON: Around 500 migrants are to be kept on the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge

THE Daily Mail among other hard-right media outlets recently headlined government plans to move asylum-seekers from hotels to military bases — and possibly a very large barge. This story turned out to be true.

The government plans to house 500 asylum-seekers on a barge in Portland, Dorset. Now Rishi Sunak has announced plans for at least two more barges. The London Mayor Sadiq Khan has already rejected the idea of mooring a barge in the Royal Docks in east London.

The main reason why asylum-seekers are in hotels is because the government has slowed down the application process to a crawl. Most who apply are genuine and eventually accepted.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Land O’Cakes Hotel, Great Ancoats Street, Manchester in July 1962 / pic: Manchester Archives+/CC
Downing Street of the north / 16 July 2026
16 July 2026

KEITH FLETT looks at geographical roots of working-class activism in Britain

Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex, one of two barracks which will be used to house asylum seekers temporarily. Picture date: Tuesday October 28, 2025
Immigration / 11 July 2026
11 July 2026

The government’s latest asylum proposals abandon labour movement values and fuel division by aping Reform UK, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP

Nigel Farage
Features / 27 May 2026
27 May 2026

Labour movement history in Britain shows workers secured reforms through collective pressure and political representation, rather than being gifted from above, writes KEITH FLETT

‘ILLEGAL TRADITION’: An engraving entitled ‘The Leader of the Luddites’, 1812
Features / 20 November 2025
20 November 2025

Inspired by a hit TV show, KEITH FLETT takes a look at the murky history of undercover class war