Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.
                                 -- H. L. Mencken

The purpose of the barge is not to house asylum seekers: it's to provide headline fodder about a moral panic they stirred up in the first place.

.... Hm: It's been reported that the political "silly season" went away. *bzzt* Wrong: it's silly season the year round.