Ministers revisit plans to send migrants to island in the South Atlantic

Sarah Dines said that the small boats crisis had now become so urgent that her colleagues are now forced to consider the option which was rejected under Boris Johnson’s administration.

Reports suggest that the proposals are considered as a “plan b” if the Government’s flagship Rwanda scheme fails.

On Monday the first migrants boarded the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset, which has been described by campaigners as a floating prison.

The Home Office’s head of asylum accommodation, Cherly Avery, said that 15 people had been moved onto the vessel as part of plans to cut the cost of hotel accommodation.

However, the charity Care4Calais said around 20 asylum seekers did not board the Bibby Stockholm as planned because their transferred were “cancelled” after lawyers challenged the decision to house them there.

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, has said that the Government is looking at further areas to host barges, as well as former military bases, as a form of accommodation for migrants.

However, sources told The Yorkshire Post that areas of the North including Yorkshire and Teesside could be set to avoid hosting barges due to issues around safety.

One industry source on Humberside said that Hull had previously been approached by the Government to host a barge but were told that it would not be suitable for accommodation.

“It was very clear that we didn’t fit their criteria for space within the port, because we’re a really busy port with a quick turnover,” they said.

They added that Humberside’s ports did not have a berth that could be tied up for the amount of time required by officials.

One senior source in local government on Teesside said that although they had heard rumours that the area could host a barge, no plans had been properly put in place.

Diana Johnson, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, told The Yorkshire Post that many ports will be unsuitable for hosting migrants.

“I’m concerned about what’s going to happen to these people,” she said.

“In terms of security on a port, you can’t have people just wandering around. God knows how this is going to work.”

Earlier, while facing questions from broadcasters, Ms Dines indicated the number of migrants expected to be housed on the Bibby Stockholm could rise rapidly to its capacity of around 500 men by the end of the week.

But Downing Street appeared to suggest she had misspoken, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman saying that while “no limit” has been set on how many people will board the barge this week, the Government’s plan is to reach the capacity “over time”, adding: “I don’t think we are aiming to do it by the weekend.”

The Home Office later clarified that the total will be reached over a longer period of time and not by the end of the week.

New polling from YouGov suggested that less than 10 per cent of the public believe that the Government will be able to reduce the number of asylum seekers crossing the channel on small boats.

For Conservative voters this only rises to 15 per cent, with Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, remaining one of the least popular politicians in the country, with an approval rating of -43.