Rishi Sunak's faith in Home Secretary Suella Braverman remains unshaken despite Legionella...

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【Summary】Despite the discovery of Legionella bacteria on the Bibby Stockholm barge, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman still has the confidence of Chancellor Rishi Sunak. The Home Office has defended its response to the incident, stating that lessons will be learned. All 39 people on the barge were moved off after the bacteria was found in the water supply, but none have shown symptoms of the disease. The process of removing the bacteria is expected to take about a week.

FutureCar Staff Aug 14, 2023 5:27 PM PT

Rishi Sunak's faith in Home Secretary Suella Braverman remains unshaken despite Legionella...

Rishi Sunak still has confidence in Home Secretary Suella Braverman despite the recent discovery of Legionella on the Bibby Stockholm barge, according to Downing Street. The prime minister's official spokesman defended the Home Office's response to the incident and stated that lessons would be learned. All 39 people on board the barge were moved off after the bacteria was found in the water supply, although none have shown symptoms of the disease. Dorset Council discovered the Legionella on Monday and informed the government-hired contractors the same day. The process of removing the bacteria is expected to take about a week.

The government spokesman stated that relevant groups would be contacted to learn from the situation. However, there is still confusion about when officials were made aware of the issues on the barge. The decision to put migrants on the boat before the test results for Legionella came back was made by the Home Office in conjunction with relevant tests and checks. Health Secretary Steve Barclays expressed the desire for migrants to return to the barge when it is ready, citing the high cost of hotel accommodation for them.

Legionella can cause Legionnaires' disease, a lung infection with flu-like symptoms. In extreme cases, it can be fatal. Dorset Council has clarified that it was not their responsibility to inform the Home Office about the preliminary test results, but rather the responsibility of the contracted companies operating the barge. Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock has written to his counterpart to inquire about the Home Office's knowledge of the bacteria risk. Former Brexit secretary David Davis criticized the Home Office's handling of the situation, suggesting that it revealed incompetence within the department. The government still plans to expand its fleet of floating migrant barges.

In other news, six Afghan men died while crossing the English Channel, and over 50 people were rescued from the sinking ship.