Taking a short step back in time to 2023, the community of Weymouth and Portland was fractured. Seemingly beyond repair following the arrival of the Bibby Stockholm barge. A floating vessel brought to the Isle of Portland by the then Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman. After Brexit, the Conservative government fundamentally reshaped the UK’s asylum system in ways that made it significantly harder for people to claim protection. The government tightened eligibility rules, narrowed the definition of who qualifies as a refugee, and introduced measures that penalise people for the manner in which they arrive, even though international law recognises the right to seek asylum regardless of route. The Nationality and Borders Act created a two-tier system that now treats those arriving via irregular journeys as less deserving of protection, restricted appeal rights, expanded detention powers and increased the risk of removal to so-called “safe third countries”. Together, these changes marked a deliberate shift away from protection and towards deterrence, making the asylum process more complex, more punitive and far less accessible than it had been before Brexit.
Many support this. Many do not. However, the outcome of this government policy was to change the form of those arriving from ‘legal’ to ‘illegal’. Just like that, humans from other countries were labelled and scapegoated. The government also dramatically reduced the number of people processing asylum claims. Thus the process slowed down and resentment grew. From this came asylum hotels and because of the change in the mood, the Bibby Stockholm. A floating asylum hotel. Few supported it or wanted it. The asylum seekers did not want it. Those who cared about human rights did not want it. Racists did not want it. The only people who appeared to want it here were hardline right-wing politicians within the Conservative government. As they were the government, they got their way. Until they were no longer in government, that is.
For those who seek a walk down memory lane as to how the artery of the community was severed by a small but very noisy number of people, the following provides a sad and regrettable example.
However, apart from a reminder of how quickly a community can turn on each other and vulnerable people, this article is more about how suddenly an attack on it can unite those same people. In January 2025 the Bibby Stockholm was towed away. The asylum seekers rehoused, but behind lay the scars and gaping wounds of a government’s failings. There is absolutely no doubt that the Conservative government was responsible. In 2022 they oversaw a still-existing record number of migrant boats. They now seek to keep that quiet, but then they would, wouldn’t they? Who wants to boast about failed policies and dividing communities? However, we are all aware that across the decades they have had enough practice. Just ask the coal miners who saw their mines closed and the hypocrisy of importing the replacement coal from Russia, Romania, China and Germany…. Communities are superfluous when politicians choose ideology and vendettas.
How would these wounds heal? How would the scars begin to fade? For many, nothing but pessimism. Pandora’s Jar had been opened. The demons were free. But guess what? Brooding in the background of many people’s consciousness lay another beast. An incinerator. The same government that had brought us the Bibby was now planning something just as unpopular. And the new Labour government, instead of killing the policy dead, supported it too.
However, instead of dividing the community, this was about to engage people in a very different way. Something that governments are much more frightened of. Unity.
Anyone can be a decent person or a racist given the circumstances of their upbringing or life experience more generally. But who wants to see their loved ones get sick or die?
‘Incinerators pose significant risks to public health because they emit a range of harmful pollutants, even when operating within regulatory limits. Burning waste releases fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen oxides, dioxins, furans and heavy metals such as mercury and lead, all of which are linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, cancers, and developmental problems in children. These pollutants can travel beyond the immediate vicinity of an incinerator, affecting wider populations and disproportionately harming people living nearby, who are often in more deprived areas. Evidence also suggests that long-term, low-level exposure can exacerbate asthma, reduce lung function and increase hospital admissions, placing an ongoing burden on both communities and the NHS.’
Not many, it seems.
Yes, when it comes to facing up to something that is destructive to us physically, we can find that common bond unless, of course, it is tobacco, alcohol, or fast and processed foods, which remain our biggest killers.
The question now, of course, is whether unity will be victorious. Logically one would expect it to be. However, sadly, we live in a world in which those who govern us have their own logic and we are rarely a consideration unless they seek our votes.
Weymouth and Portland could be on the cusp of rejecting hate and division within their community to enable them to drive out the demons who seek to profit from them. They may even look away from those who promise them things they cannot deliver and who seek to impose destructive ideologies upon them for their own personal gain. We can only hope so. Do not claim to be a Christian… and then hate your neighbours. Only through unity can we truly deliver. But how many are listening?
