Suella Braverman is under pressure to abandon plans to house asylum seekers on a giant barge after 39 were being removed from the vessel yesterday following the discovery of potentially deadly bacteria in the water system.
Ministers are concerned that contractors knew there were traces of legionella bacteria on the Bibby Stockholm on Monday as the first asylum seekers arrived in Portland, Dorset. Officials insist the Home Office was not told until Wednesday, when new tests were ordered.
So far none of the 39 migrants on board the barge have tested positive, but it can take up to 16 days for symptoms to emerge.
A leaked Home Office letter seen by the Guardian shows they are being told that they will be tested if they suffer from symptoms including dry coughs, confusion and diarrhoea.
The embarrassing developments come at the end of the prime minister Rishi Sunak's "small boats week", which was meant to launch hardline policies to cut the number of asylum seekers trying to enter the UK.
On Monday, ministers dropped a plan to send migrants more than 4,000 miles to Ascension Island hours after it was announced.
The Tory deputy chairman, Lee Anderson, provoked outrage when he told asylum seekers to "fuck off back to France", before admitting the government had "failed" to tackle illegal immigration. A £400,000 Home Office drone used to monitor boats in the Channel later crashed into the sea, then on Thursday 755 asylum seekers were recorded making the crossing, the highest number for a single day.
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