Police are searching for protesters after officers were injured and vehicles damaged during unrest in Portsmouth, where a demonstration followed the arrival of 120 migrants on a single dinghy.
Policing Minister Sarah Jones told the House of Commons that Sunday night’s disorder was “intimidating and thuggish”, warning that anyone who “crosses into illegality” would “face the full force of the law”.
- Advertisement -
The unrest came after a large group of masked men staged a protest against small-boat crossings at the Port of Dover on Saturday, causing significant disruption.
Portsmouth City Council said the Home Office had “serious questions to answer” over its decision to bring the migrants, who had crossed the English Channel from France, ashore in the area.
Council leader Steve Pitt said the move had created “needless disruption”.
About 200 people, some of them wearing masks, confronted officers in riot gear after gathering in the Eastney Landing ferry port area, where the migrants had been brought ashore.
Police guarded several coaches parked on a road leading away from Eastney Marina while protesters blocked traffic. A dispersal order was issued, allowing officers to arrest anyone who refused to comply.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said a handful of officers were treated at the scene for injuries, although none was seriously hurt.
In a statement, the force said: “Violence and criminal damage have no part in peaceful protest.
“No arrests have been made at this time, however an investigation to identify offenders responsible for any assaults to officers, criminal damage to vehicles or other criminal offences has been launched.”
Spencer Wragg, chair of Hampshire Police Federation, said: “I’ve seen footage of officers being pushed off their motorbikes, I’ve seen pictures of police vehicles damaged. It appears that the police last night became the target for some of the protest.”
Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo and an associate of far-right activist Tommy Robinson, livestreamed from the scene and urged supporters to “get down to Eastney” to prevent the migrants from being transported.
The coaches carrying the migrants eventually left in the early hours of Monday. Border Force confirmed that “individuals from the boat have been transported outside of Hampshire for processing”.
Video shared online appeared to show protesters pursuing the convoy along a motorway after it departed.
Protesters said they were attempting to stop officials from taking the migrants to the Manston processing centre in Kent.
Addressing the House of Commons on Monday, the policing minister said: “Peaceful protest is a fundamental part of our democracy and it must be defended. But so too is the right of other citizens to go about their lives without undue interference – and there can be no excuse for threatening behaviour or serious disruption.”
Sarah Jones added: “Let me therefore make clear to the House and to the country that disorder of any kind will never be tolerated and those who cross the line from peaceful protest into illegality will face the full force of the law.”
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp condemned the violence in Portsmouth but said it should also serve as “a wake-up call for the government”, adding: “This should also be a wake-up call for the government because it’s not just those protesters in Dover and Portsmouth who feel so angry about large-scale illegal immigration.
“It is millions and millions of people up and down this country who feel angry as well.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Britain was close to “serious civil disturbance” and urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.
In a video posted on social media, he said: “Peaceful protest: good. Uniforms and masks: bad. Voting is the only way we get a solution.”
Conservative MP Dame Caroline Dinenage, who represents Gosport near Portsmouth, accused the Home Office of not giving local officials sufficient information about Sunday’s protest.
“As a result we weren’t in a position to calm fear and tension,” she said.
Amanda Martin, the Labour MP for Portsmouth North, said the “emergence” of the route used by Sunday’s Channel crossing was “deeply worrying for my city”.
Home Office figures showed that about 625 migrants aboard eight boats were brought ashore at Dover and Portsmouth on Sunday.
In the year to 1 September, 16,513 people arrived in the UK in small boats, a figure 43% lower than during the same period a year earlier.
Net migration to the UK has also fallen to its lowest level outside the Covid pandemic since 2012.
The disruption came only days after Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron met to discuss how to “scale up” efforts to curb small-boat crossings.
Although crossings during the summer have fallen to their lowest level since 2019, smugglers appear to be putting more people aboard fewer and larger vessels known as “mega dinghies”.
One small boat carrying a record 230 people successfully crossed the Channel in August.
People smugglers organising the journeys are thought to have adopted more elaborate methods to evade detection after policing was strengthened in the Calais area.
