From the moment it was announced that asylum seekers would be accommodated on this hulking, prison-like barge, the scheme was steeped in controversy. As it leaves British waters, here is the inside story

The asylum seekers sent to live on the Bibby Stockholm complained of the same recurring dream. As they slept in narrow bunk beds on the barge, they dreamed they were disappeared from the UK in the dead of night, the boat slipped from its moorings by the Home Office, drifting into the open sea towards Rwanda.

The dream was not surprising. At the time, in 2023 and 2024, the Conservative government’s two highest profile schemes to “stop the boats” crossing the Channel were the barge and a plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.