Ministers have condemned what they called “thuggish and intimidating behaviour” after hundreds of far-right activists blocked roads in Portsmouth following the arrival of a boat carrying asylum seekers. The crowd, some of whom wore black clothing and balaclavas, tried to prevent the arrivals from being transported for processing until police threatened arrests and removed them at about 3am.
The Home Office said everyone who arrived on the boat had left the area and was being transported for processing in the usual way.
Police response and ministerial condemnation
Emma Reynolds, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said she supported peaceful protest but that the Portsmouth events had crossed the line. She said police had dealt with the incident well and rejected the suggestion that officers had been caught by surprise.
A witness said two police car windscreens were smashed. The Home Office described the behaviour as intimidating and thuggish.
Concerns over a new crossing route
Donna Jones, the Conservative police and crime commissioner for Hampshire, said a boat carrying 140 people had left an area near Cherbourg at about 1am and entered the Solent near Portsmouth roughly 10 hours later. She said Portsmouth did not have Dover’s infrastructure for processing arrivals and warned against the town becoming a destination for people traffickers.
The number of people arriving in small boats this year has fallen by more than 40% compared with the same period last year, but ministers are concerned that people smugglers may be using routes beyond the Dover area.
Organiser linked to Dover protest
The Portsmouth crowd appeared to have been organised by Daniel Thomas, a far-right agitator linked to Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. Thomas, who uses the name Danny Tommo on social media, also appeared behind a similar blockade around Dover’s port on Saturday.
Nick Lowles, chief executive of Hope Not Hate, said the events suggested an intelligence failure and called for a stronger response to protests that create fear among migrants, immigrants and people of colour.
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