Ministers are facing criticism over proposals to turn a historic sea fort into a reception and processing centre for small boat arrivals, less than a mile from what is expected to become Britain’s largest immigration detention facility.
Residents in Gosport, near the naval city of Portsmouth, fear the town could become the country’s focal point for the small boat crisis and see further unrest following violent protests in recent weeks.
Fort Blockhouse, constructed in the 19th century to protect the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour, is being considered as a potential reception site under contingency plans for handling small boats arriving in Hampshire from across the Channel.
Most crossings have traditionally headed towards Kent. However, people smugglers have recently begun launching boats from Normandy towards Hampshire, creating a longer and more hazardous route.
Tensions erupted in Gosport on Tuesday after convicted criminal and anti-migration activist ‘Danny Tommo’ told supporters that 50 small boat arrivals were due to be brought ashore in the town.
Border Force vessels diverted the migrants to Dover to avoid the crowd. Violence nevertheless broke out in Gosport, resulting in six arrests, while police escorted three coaches that had been waiting to transport the asylum seekers.
Gosport is already home to Haslar Immigration Removal Centre (IRC), which closed around a decade ago. It is due to reopen following an expansion that will provide space for 600 foreign national offenders and migrants awaiting removal, across three storeys.
Local tensions over migration remain high. Nearby Portsmouth Lifeboat Station recently suspended operations after volunteers reported physical and online abuse.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, the Conservative MP for Gosport, said establishing a processing centre at Fort Blockhouse could encourage more people to attempt the journey to Britain.
Fort Blockhouse, built in the 19th century to defend the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour, is being considered as a reception centre for small boat arrivals
Haslar Immigration Removal Centre in Gosport closed a decade ago but is set to reopen and expand, with capacity for 600 foreign national offenders and migrants
Protesters, some wearing masks, gathered in Gosport on Tuesday as small boat arrivals were expected to come ashore
“The chaotic scenes this week reinforced the concerns raised by local police, council leaders and me that Portsmouth Harbour is not a suitable disembarkation point for migrant boats,” she told the Daily Mail.
“Hopefully, any future Channel crossings towards our area will be taken directly to Kent, where processing facilities are already in place.
“We do not have the necessary facilities or transport infrastructure, and opening additional sites here would simply incentivise more boats to make the perilous journey from France.”
Lesley Cox, a 78-year-old local resident, said she was “disgusted” by the proposal to use Fort Blockhouse.
“We were not told about Fort Blockhouse. It is the secrecy surrounding it. Why is this not being discussed openly? I have lived in Gosport for 30 years and I am definitely seeing it become the UK capital for illegal migration.
“Immigration has always taken place in this area and it was never a problem, but now the situation is changing far beyond proportion.
“I have to think about my family and the effect this could have. My eldest son served in the Navy and fought for this country, so you have to ask what it was for.”
Cllr Zoe Huggins, leader of Gosport Borough Council, has written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to object to the proposed site.
She said the area has already seen a series of anti-immigration protests, including an incident on September 6 when 200 people gathered at nearby Eastney beach to confront 140 migrants being brought ashore from a packed dinghy.
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‘We should learn from these events when considering potential locations and ensure that the characteristics and constraints of each site are properly understood and researched before decisions are made,’ she told Ms Mahmood.
Ms Huggins pointed out that Fort Blockhouse is located on a peninsula with only one route out, which would make it easy for protesters to block any coaches attempting to leave the site.
Hundreds of protesters clashed with police near Eastney beach in Portsmouth earlier this month after a dinghy carrying 140 asylum seekers was escorted to the shore
Migrants try to board a small boat off the beach of Equihen-Plage in northern France in a bid to cross the Channel
Across town, near Haslar IRC, residents complain that their lives have been made ‘hell’ by two years of ‘constant’ building work beginning in the early hours of the morning.
It is being refurbished after shutting down in 2015 following a parliamentary review, which highlighted immigration detention as ‘expensive and damaging to detainees’.
The newly expanded facility will have 600 beds for detained men, who will be unable to leave the centre or access the local area.
Vick, a local resident and member of the armed forces, who did not want to give her surname, said the IRC expansion and fort conversion could lead to further unrest in the local area.
She said: ‘I’m not against the IRC being used in its current capacity. It’s good for job opportunities in Gosport. But the additional 600 I don’t agree with.
‘I’m worried about the number of migrants in the area attracting trouble – not just because of them but also the so-called “patriots” it’s been attracting.
‘They were up and down the street the other night when that small boat was brought in from the Channel.’
Colin, another armed forces member, said: ‘If I’m honest I’d prefer it’s all down there at the fort rather than spread between there and the IRC.
‘It’s going to cost so much to refurbish them both when costs for redoing sites is already astronomical for the MOD.’
Amid growing concerns over Labour’s response to the small boat crisis, this week has seen two dinghies reach UK shores without being intercepted by Border Force.
The deepening crisis in the Channel saw 781 migrants arrive on Wednesday – the highest daily tally this year.
With a further 44 arrivals on Thursday, it pushed the total since the 2024 general election to 83,323 – passing the British Army’s 83,000 soldiers, said Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.
The figures will be embarrassing for Ms Mahmood, who claimed on September 2: ‘We are boosting officer numbers to record highs to crack down on small-boat launches and the gangs behind them. This work is bearing fruit.’
Danny Tommo, real name Daniel Thomas, was denied bail on Friday having pleaded not guilty to criminal damage after he was filmed allegedly using a knife to slash a dinghy used by migrants to cross the Channel to Britain.
The 37-year-old also pleaded not guilty to failing to disclose the PIN for his mobile phone to police, contrary to Section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
Thomas appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning, with Tommy Robinson attending to support his friend.
A Government spokesman said: ‘The Border Security Command works around the clock to protect our border and will continue to detain, check and process every small boat arrival.’
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