Police in Portsmouth faced off with hundreds of anti-migrant demonstrators on Sunday, after 140 asylum seekers were rescued from a dinghy in the Channel and brought safely to shore.
Videos shared widely on social media showed large crowds gathering near Eastney beach, where protesters could be heard shouting slogans including “stop the boats” and “enough is enough”.
The Portsmouth protest is believed to have been driven by Daniel Thomas, an associate of Tommy Robinson, whose Patriot Platform group also organised a large demonstration at the Port of Dover earlier in the weekend.
Tensions rose after a small boat carrying more than 100 migrants entered British waters at around lunchtime on Sunday, prompting an emergency response.
Two RNLI lifeboats, along with an HM Coastguard helicopter and aircraft, were sent to the scene to help bring the asylum seekers ashore safely.
Around 140 migrants are believed to have arrived in Portsmouth, where hordes of protestors later flocked to try and blockade the port.
The area surrounding Eastney was eventually shut down by police as an estimated 500 demonstrators lined surrounding streets in a bid to stop the asylum seekers being transported to an immigration centre.
Videos posted earlier on Sunday showed how some protestors even entered the water at Eastney beach. In one clip, Thomas was heard urging his supporters to ‘get in your cars and get down here now’ as he stood in the sea.
Hundreds of protestors clashed with police near Eastney Beach in Portsmouth this evening after a dinghy carring 140 asylum seekers was escorted to the shore
Crowds were heard shouting ‘stop the boats’ and ‘enough is enough’ while blocked nearby roads
Riot police were deployed to the scene, though none of the protesters are thought to have been arrested
Separate footage meanwhile appeared to show a pensioner delivering supplies to protestors via canoe.
In other videos demonstrators on land were seen crowding in front of riot police chanting ‘enough is enough’.
And further clips showed people – many of whom donned all-black outfits and caps – shouting ‘we’ve had enough’ and ‘stop the boats’ in front of a police van.
The dinghy which eventually arrived on British shores had originally left the Bay of the Seine and was shadowed for around 10 hours by rescue boats.
The French coastguard deemed it unsafe to stop the boat on water during what is thought to have been one of the longest Channel crossings ever.
The authorities in France added that it was unusual for a migrant boat to depart from the Bay of the Seine, located some 170 miles from the usual launches in Calais.
The HM Coastguard sent lifeboats, a helicopter, an aeroplane and rescue teams to ensure the asylum seekers reached the British shore safely.
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said: ‘In response to a report on September 6 of a small boat heading towards the Hampshire coast, HM Coastguard sent lifeboats, an HM Coastguard helicopter, an HM Coastguard aeroplane and HM Coastguard Rescue Teams.
‘Border Force, Border Security Command, Hampshire Police and South Central Ambulance Service were also sent.’
Clips posted online later showed people being ushered off lifeboats to shore, where they were met by several buses.
Cllr George Madgwick, leader of Reform UK in Hampshire, wrote in a post on X that ‘over 100 migrant men’ had arrived on the shore in Portsmouth.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage meanwhile posted: ‘Today a boat launched from Baie de Seine, 170 miles from Calais, arrived on the beaches of Hampshire for the very first time. This is a joke. Only Reform will send the boats back.’
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Pictures show men, women, and children wearing orange lifejackets wading through the water in northern France before climbing onto an inflatable rubber boat in Gravelines in a separate incident
Migrants scramble on board a dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel to Britain (A boat in Gravelines, Calais, is pictured, in a separate incident)
The crossing comes on the same week that Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron met to discuss how to ‘scale up’ efforts to reduce small boat crossings.
Only last month, a small boat carrying record numbers of migrants – believed to be more than 230 – successfully crossed the English Channel.
Earlier this week, hundreds of protestors donning balaclavas brought the Port of Dover to a standstill as they blocked several major roads.
Demonstrators were heard chanting ‘stop the boats’, with some claiming links to Patriot Platform, a hard-Right organisation made up of anti-migrant groups from around the country.
Kent Police was thought to have been ‘unaware’ that the protest was taking place, leaving them ‘thin on the ground’ as hundreds marched the streets of the town.
Mike Tapp, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal and former Home Office minister, 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. We know that laws were broken because they were blocking the roads and wearing face coverings.’
In response, Kent Police told the Daily Mail it was a ‘spontaneous event and was policed accordingly’.
Police made no arrests and escorted the protesters to Dover Priory train station at around midday.
At least 100 people were seen boarding a train to Ramsgate, with some since spotted in nearby Sandwich where ‘police are in attendance’.
Patriot Platform was founded earlier this year by Daniel Thomas, a convicted kidnapper and associate of Tommy Robinson.
Sharing clips of the protest in Dover to his social media, Thomas wrote: ‘It’s time. Protect Our Country! And more importantly our women and children! This is our warning.’
Hundreds of balaclava-clad protestors took to the Port of Dover on Saturday for an anti-immigration protest
The protesters blocked roads leading to the port, sparking warnings of delays for holidaymakers
A Home Office spokesperson said following the protests in Portsmouth tonight: ‘This Government is bearing down on dangerous small boat crossings and restoring control at our border. Joint efforts have seen over 48,000 crossing attempts prevented and 1,100 boats and engines seized since the election.
‘We are making progress, with the number of small boat crossings down this year and the lowest number recorded for the month of July since 2020.
‘But we must go further, which is why we have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40% more boots on the ground on French beaches.’
Hampshire Constabulary said: ‘This evening (Sunday 6 September), we have been working alongside and assisting our partners from Border Force, Maritime & Coastguard Agency and Portsmouth City Council at Eastney Marina following the arrival of a boat crossing the channel.
‘We have officers in the area to ensure the prevention of any disorder. We ask that people please avoid the area. A dispersal order is in place until tomorrow evening (Monday 7 September). Anyone who refuses to comply with the direction to leave the area is liable for arrest.
‘We can also confirm that Border Force has advised us that Individuals will be transported outside of Hampshire for processing in the normal way after they have been safely disembarked.’