Protests07 September, 20262 min read
Anti-Immigration Protesters Clash With Police in Portsmouth After 140 Migrants Arrive by Boat
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Around 140 migrants arrived in a dinghy off Hampshire and were landed at Eastney, Portsmouth. Protesters blocked roads and clashed with police as authorities processed the arrivals.
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Portsmouth road blocks
Hundreds of anti-immigration protesters clashed with police in Portsmouth after around 140 migrants arrived in the UK aboard a small boat, with demonstrators blocking roads near the waterfront and chanting “stop the boats”. Hampshire Police urged people to avoid the Eastney Landing ferry port area, where the migrants were brought ashore, and said a dispersal order was in place, meaning anyone failing to comply could be arrested. Police carrying riot shields protected coaches parked on a road leading away from Eastney Marina as protesters blocked traffic, while Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, livestreamed from the scene.
“The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder.”
A government spokesperson said: "The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder." The BBC reported that protesters said they were trying to stop authorities transporting the migrants to the Manston processing centre in Kent.
Government slams “thuggish”
The British government condemned the Portsmouth protest as “thuggish” and “intimidating,” with Treasury Chief Secretary Emma Reynolds telling Sky News: "This is thuggish and intimidating behaviour." Reynolds also said police brought the Portsmouth protest under control, and the BBC described protesters as many of whom were dressed in black and wore masks. Daniel Thomas, an associate of far-right activist Tommy Robinson, told the BBC livestreaming from the scene: "Roads are all blocked, they are never going to be able to leave here."
The BBC reported that protesters vowed to stay all night in the second major anti-migrant protest of the weekend, after police faced off with demonstrators as they blocked roads to stop the people who had arrived from leaving the city. The BBC added that the government spokesperson thanked emergency services for working to safely manage the situation.
Dover protest and next steps
The Portsmouth demonstration came a day after masked protesters disrupted traffic at Dover, the UK’s busiest ferry port, causing congestion and affecting the movement of people and freight heading to France. The BBC reported that Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron met to discuss how to "scale up" efforts to reduce small boat crossings, and it cited that 16,513 people arrived in the UK in small boats in the year to 1 September. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones told the BBC her primary concern was that Portsmouth did not become a "destination of choice for people traffickers".
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted on X that a boat launched from Baie de Seine, 170 miles from Calais, arrived on the beaches of Hampshire for the very first time, calling it “This is a joke.” The BBC said the latest dinghy launched in Bay of the Seine and was shadowed for around 10 hours by French rescue boats, and it reached UK waters at lunchtime with people on board met by lifeboats from Bembridge and Yarmouth.