Dover anti-migrant blockade ‘exposes police failures’

Police have been criticised over the ease with which hard-Right activists managed to stage anti-migrant protests in Dover and blockade the port. An estimated 300-500 people, dressed in black and wearing masks, created long tailbacks on roads surrounding the UK’s busiest ferry port on Saturday morning. Responsibility for the protests in Kent appeared to have been claimed by a hard-Right faction called Patriot Platform, which had initially threatened to blockade Dover for three days. The group was founded in June by Danny Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, who is understood to be a close associate of the hard-Right leader Tommy Robinson. Thomas shared footage from the protest on social media, saying: “This is our warning.” Kent Police said the protests had come to an end by midday, with no arrests made by its officers. Mike Tapp, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal, said he would be asking questions of ministers in the coming week about how the demonstration appeared to catch police unawares, with officers “thin on the ground”. He said: “I will be looking urgently on Monday to ask questions around why we didn’t know about this, because we do tend to know when protests are coming to the area, and they tend to be peaceful, and laws aren’t broken, and obviously the police have the resources to manage that. “But in this instance, it would appear that the police didn’t know about it and the resources were pretty thin on the ground, to be quite honest, from what I saw. “And we know that laws were broken because they were blocking the roads and wearing face coverings. There’s no way that wasn’t coordinated. It’s coordinated in the fact that they’ve all arrived at the same place at the same time, wearing the same clothes.” One former superintendent criticised what he described as an “intelligence failure” by Kent Police. Martin Gallagher told GB News: “Whatever intelligence opportunities exist about this group, the anti-immigration group, they’ve obviously failed. “One thing I think the police will be considering, though, given the numbers, given the way that they’re all dressed in the same manner, is do they have to roll out the Public Order Act 1936, which is legislation that relates to a group forming in uniform that can be seen as acting counter to the state. “Now, I’m not sure of that ever being rolled out since the days of Sir Oswald Mosley, but it still exists, is still relevant legislation. So yes, they can bring in a Section 60 to remove the face coverings and such and take matters on about blocking roads.” The force defended its handling of the protests, saying: “It was a spontaneous event and was policed accordingly.” Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman, said it was “disgraceful” that protesters had succeeded in blocking traffic in and out of the Port of Dover. Speaking to reporters at Reform’s conference in Birmingham , he said: “I’m sick of people disrupting life in this country. It’s completely disgraceful that businesses and individuals are having their lives held up by those people.” Nigel Farage, the Reform leader , said: “I deplore what is happening in Dover today. You should not be allowed to be masked up, balaclava’d up and go out and protest on the streets of our country. It is wrong at every level.” Ministers condemned the scenes in Dover, which led to widespread disruption to road and ferry services throughout the morning. At one stage the blockade led to a four-mile queue along the A20, closing it in both directions. A Government spokesman said: “The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but we condemn the behaviour in Dover and the travel disruption it has caused. “We appreciate the frustration of those who have been impacted today. Access to the port is now restored and traffic is flowing. Those travelling to the port are advised to allow for extra travel time and to follow guidance from providers. “We thank policing partners and travel providers who we continue to work with to ensure the safety of passengers and the wider community.” The balaclava-clad activists prevented traffic from accessing the port, to the growing frustration of lorry drivers and tourists trying to board. One holidaymaker at Dover Priory rail station who was struggling to reach a group of friends at the port before sailing to Calais said the protesters were “supremely selfish”. “This is going to delay our trip by hours,” the 32-year-old care worker from north-east London, who travelled to Dover by train, said. “These protesters are a far-Right version of Extinction Rebellion – they don’t care about disrupting the lives of working people just so long as they get their moment of publicity. It’s sickening.” The woman, who did not want to be named, added that she feared if she and her friends could not make their scheduled sailing they would have to rebook a connecting train in France. Steve and Maureen Lightwood, who live near Leeds in West Yorkshire, had travelled to Folkestone to attend a rock festival. The retired couple took the bus to Dover on Saturday morning for a day trip, but found themselves stuck in traffic near the port town as protesters made their way to the railway station. Mrs Lightwood, 78, told the Press Association: “It’s scary, I’m glad we weren’t on the floor. As the police were herding down the road, I could hear them shouting.” As well as being the country’s busiest commercial ferry port, Dover is usually a hub for migrant arrivals. Most migrants attempting to come to the UK by small boat are intercepted and brought ashore by Border Security Command to a compound. Local politicians condemned the attempt to bring the port to a standstill. Councillor Chris Vinson, leader of the Conservative group and member for Walmer on Dover district council, said: “Overnight, clearly what appears to be several hundred masked men wearing black clothing and balaclavas seem to have co-ordinated and loaded into rental vans and then descended on roads leading in and out of Dover with the intent to block them. “That’s what they’ve successfully done, and it’s brought the town to a standstill. There are stacks of people who are stuck in their cars or in their workplaces as a result.” Thomas, who also shared a video on X of the words “blood is on your hands” daubed outside the Home Office’s migrant arrival centre in Dover, was a prominent figure in last summer’s controversial Operation Raise the Colours movement, which saw the flag of St George appear on streets nationwide in a supposed show of patriotism. At one stage on Saturday, dozens of protesters linked arms in front of a police van close to the approach road to the port. Others marched along the main road leading past the port gates towards Dover town centre, chanting: “Whose streets? Our streets.” Other chants included: “Send them back home” and “I’m English ‘til I die.” Footage showed dozens of marchers leaving the protest and getting on trains at Dover Priory station at around 11.30am. By midday, most had left the town after being escorted to the station by police. At around the same time, the Port of Dover reported that approach roads were free-flowing again and said normal operations had resumed. It said passengers who had missed their ferries would be accommodated on later sailings. In 2018, The Telegraph revealed that Thomas had a conviction for an attempted kidnapping . The father of four was jailed for the attempted armed kidnapping of a man in Hampshire. In July 2016, a judge condemned Thomas and two other men for an “extraordinarily frightening incident” matched only by its “stupidity” in which they armed themselves with knives and targeted Graham Page at his home on Hayling Island. Thomas, from Hampshire, admitted the offence and was jailed for two years. The two others received 30-month sentences. After his release from prison last year, Thomas adopted the pseudonym Danny Tommo and organised marches around the country calling for Robinson to be freed from a sentence for contempt of court.