On a barge off the south coast of england have now begun arriving on board. The governments use of the barge called the Bibby Stockholm Has been controversial. Officials say it will be used to house up to 500 men while they await the outcome of their asylum applications. Campaigners have expressed concern about the conditions on board, but the government insists the vessel is safe and that it will help reduce the cost of placing migrants in hotels. Protestors have gathered close to the barge in dorset. Heres what some of them had to say a little earlier. Iam against i am against the barge, i think it is extremely dangerous. As has been proved by the fire brigade. I do not think they should be on the barge, it is like a prison. I think a lot of them will have come from prisons, it is appalling. Portland has not got the infrastructure, i can see that Point Of View but we have to welcome them, they are here now. Our correspondent ellie price is in dorset for us now. The first of the Asylu
Clearly these concerns are worrying local people. The government has repeatedly said that the barge is going to be better value for british taxpayers because of the huge costs of housing Asylum Seekers and hotels, i think it is about £6 million a day at the moment. Do we know how much it cost a housing Asylum Seeker on the barge . We a housing Asylum Seeker on the barae . ~. ,. ,. , barge . We are told it is cheaper. There was barge . We are told it is cheaper. There was a barge . We are told it is cheaper. There was a report barge . We are told it is cheaper. There was a report recently barge . We are told it is cheaper. There was a report recently thatl there was a report recently that suggested it might only be a little bit cheaper. The government has been very cagey and giving us an exact number over what it will cost because i suspect it has been done before so they dont entirely know. There are concerns that the costs of maintaining a barge should be more than a building on land
Welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast moving news, interviews and reaction. We start with a Major Political political row here in the uk. The first Asylum Seekers to be housed on a barge off the south coast of england have now begun arriving on board. The governments use of the barge called the Bibby Stockholm Has been controversial. Officials say it will be used to house up to 500 men while they await the outcome of their asylum applications. Campaigners have expressed concern about the conditions on board, but the government insists the vessel is safe and that it will help reduce the cost of placing migrants in hotels. Our correspondent ellie price is in dorset for us. She gave us this update a little earlier. We also understand there are already a number of migrants on board. I cant tell you exactly how many, im afraid. Probably understandably the home office being a bit cagey about numbers. They dont want to be seen to be putting numbers on it, because i think that would imp
sides in the champions league quarterfinals. chelsea join liverpool and manchester city in the last eight, after a convincing win over the spanish league leaders atletico madrid. keeping beauty spots beautiful when the covid restrictions lift why landowners want more people to pay attention to the countryside code. good morning. today once again is going to be fairly cloudy for most with some patchy rain coming down the east of the country. the best of the east of the country. the best of the sunshine in the south west and also central and eastern parts of scotland. i will have all the details later in the programme. it s thursday the 18th of march. our top story. people under the age of 50 are unlikely to get their first dose of a covid vaccine before the end of april because of what nhs england is calling a significant reduction in supply. it s understood to have been caused by a delay in the manufacture of millions of doses of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine in india.
clots were reported in a small number of people. hundreds of patients may have had do not resuscitate decisions placed on them during the pandemic, without them or their families knowing the care regulator calls for urgent action. people seeking asylum in the uk could be sent abroad while their cases are being processed, under a plans for a major overhaurl of the immigration system expected to be set out next week. and coming up this hour keeping beauty spots beautiful why landowners want more people to pay attention to to the countryside code. good morning and welcome to bbc news. the government is facing questions over why there s to be a significant reduction in covid vaccine supplies from the end of this month. it is understood a delivery of millions of doses of the oxford astrazeneca jab, produced by the serum institute of india, has been held up by four weeks. after opening up appointments to all over 50s on wednesday, nhs england says jabs should now not be off