A barge which will house 500 asylum seekers is on the move, with the first residents expected to board later this month.

The barge – named the Bibby Stockholm – departed from Falmouth, Cornwall, to head to Portland Port in Dorset on Monday morning as Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman faced fresh criticism over the Illegal Migration Bill.

The bill, which is part of a package of measures to deter migrants from crossing the channel, has faced fierce opposition in the House of Lords numerous times.

Members want further concessions in the bill on limits to the detention of children, modern slavery protections and the provision of safe and legal routes for refugees to the UK.

Meanwhile, outside the Home Office, comedian Dom Joly led a Save the Children protest while dressed as Mickey Mouse and holding a placard that read “stop child detention”.

It came after ministers faced criticism over a decision to paint over “welcoming” murals of Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse and Baloo from The Jungle Book, at a migrant reception centre in Kent.

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Despite criticism, Rishi Sunak defended the use of barges as a “better” way to house migrants, in a message to the people of Portland who are against it being moored there.

Read more:
Barge arrives in UK waters
How it got here

“I think it’s right for the public as a whole that we move away from a situation where £6m a day of taxpayers’ money is going towards housing these individuals in hotels,” the prime minister said.

“We think it is better to open specific sites designed to house immigrants that come in, done in a more planned way.”

Dorset Council has been given £2m in a funding package to meet the cost of providing services to residents.

The move of the three-storey vessel is already a month behind schedule, after Ms Braverman told MPs that the vessel would be in Portland within a fortnight on 5 June.

The 222-bedroom vessel contains “basic” accommodation, with healthcare provision, catering facilities and 24/7 security, at a reported cost of £20,000 a day, the Home Office said back in May.

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In addition to the Bibby Stockholm, the government is seeking to use former military bases to house asylum seekers.

Braintree District Council and a nearby resident are bringing legal action to challenge the use of Wethersfield in Essex to house up to 1,700 men, while West Lindsey District Council is challenging similar plans for RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

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