Migrant crisis: Hope is fading in Portland that they can stop 500 asylum seekers being imposed upon them - analysis by Jeff Moody

In a few days’ time, the Government’s infamous ‘migrant barge’ – Bibby Stockholm - is due in town, fresh from its refit in Falmouth. When it arrives, 500 migrants will be calling it home. And Portlanders are worried.

Worried because, by all accounts, the 500 are young men. Unchecked, unvetted, unfettered.

Under the beating sun, people talk into a scratchy megaphone. It’s Speaker’s Corner by the seaside. All manner of opinions are raised, listened to, digested over sandwiches. But the viewpoints have one thing in common: the barge isn’t welcome here.

Organiser Alex Bailey is in his element. He has reporters from local news, from newspapers – and me – and he’s choreographing proceedings to perfection. Locals are lining up to talk. They’re lovely, every last one of them. Not a racist, nor a fascist, nor a Nimby in sight.

They explain their concerns, eloquently, lucidly. How can it be right to unleash 500 men - away from home in a foreign land – onto their community? A community that isn’t diverse in the slightest.

But it’s more than this. Portland relies almost totally on its tourism. The winter months are tough, money is scarce. There are only two GPs for a population of 13,000. One lady shows me a picture of her son’s ingrown toenail. He had to wait 18 months for it to be fixed. Appointments are rare as hen’s teeth.

The island’s GPs have been trying to ascertain who’s responsible for the 500 new arrivals. They’re told they may have “complex health issues”. They’ll need translators, doubling appointment times. Resources just can’t be stretched that far.

There’s anger here. But who do they blame? Portland Port, for starters. The Port is rumoured to be making a killing from the barge. “Despicable,” says one woman. “They were the only ones who didn’t turn up to the public forum and that speaks volumes.”

The public forum, in a church crammed with locals, was a chance for Portlanders to express their opinions. But not many thought they were heard. Portland Port tells me they’re listening, they’re acting in the locals’ interest. But the islanders are wondering who they’re listening to, because it certainly isn’t them.

So they’ve taken to the airwaves. Asking questions of Nigel Farage on GB News. Farage sent them a message of solidarity but admitted he doesn’t have an answer either.

They’ve seen the footage coming out of Newquay, a Cornish town divided and damaged by a migrant hotel that pitted neighbour against neighbour. The people of Portland don’t want the same to happen to them. They don’t want to become those people.

They’ve written an open letter to their MP, asking for help. They’re keeping the story warm by organising demos and marches. They’re still hoping.

But the hope is fading. Every day it looks more likely that the barge will arrive here and they’ll find themselves at the very centre of a storm that threatens to engulf their blue skies. I ask them how they’ll behave towards the young men.

“We’ll be polite and welcoming,” says a young lady, clutching her “No to the Barge” banner. “But we’ll be wary. Very wary.”

And that’s no good for anyone.