Police response to Dover anti-migrant protest to be scrutinised as MPs condemn masked men who blocked roadsDaniel Thomas, an associate of far right activist Tommy Robinson, has appeared to claim credit for the action
Allow Exco Player content
This content is provided by Exco Player and may use cookies or similar technologies. Please click ‘Allow and Continue’ below to load the content.
Rachael Burford, Chief Political Correspondent @RachaelBurford2 minutes ago
COMMENTS
The police response to an “intimidating” anti-migrant protest that blocked roads in Dover is set to be scrutinised.
Hundreds of men clad in black and wearing masks descended on the coastal town in Kent on Saturday, causing major disruption to road and ferry travel.
Police appeared to be unprepared for the demonstration where protesters shouted “whose streets? our streets” and “stop the boats”.
Daniel Thomas, an associate of far right activist Tommy Robinson, has appeared to claim credit for the action, which campaign organisation Hope Not Hate linked to a group he recently launched called Patriot Platform.
Sharing a video of demonstrators on Instagram, Mr Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, wrote: “It’s time! Protect our country! And more importantly our women and children! This is our warning!”
Protesters at Dover Priory train station after black-clad and masked anti-illegal migrant demonstrators blocked roadsPA
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, suggested that the protests were part of a coordinated plan.
In a post on X he wrote: “Simultaneously at different locations across Dover patriots have mobilised to close down the port.”
Former Home Office minister and Labour MP for Dover and Deal, Mike Tapp, said he would be asking whether intelligence was “missed” and if extra police officers could have been drafted in from the Metropolitan Police to help deal with the disorder.
“Dover knows better than most the pressures immigration and border disruption can bring,” he wrote in an article for the Sunday Mirror.
“We have lived on the front line of the small boats crisis for years. We have also endured queues and gridlock caused by changes to cross-Channel travel.
Read More
Police seek Reform UK conference protester after footage shows audience pulling hair
Murder investigation launched after man found with severe head injuries in Clapham
Growth cannot be reserved for London warns Chancellor ahead of major speech
Discover a hidden island paradise in the Indian Ocean
“So the last thing Dover needs is another group deliberately blocking our roads.”
He added: “I will be asking why, whether intelligence was missed, and whether additional officers – including mutual aid from forces such as the Met – can be mobilised quickly enough when Dover is targeted again.”
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds condemned the blocking of roads by the masked anti-illegal migrant protesters.
He told Sky News on Sunday: “I condemn it. I mean, peaceful protest – essential part of British life, but that’s not dressing up in costumes like this and disrupting people’s lives.
“So I would condemn it, but I’d condemn the disruption it caused for local people as well.
“But it was resolved, it was resolved. But clearly, that’s not something we would want or expect to see on the (streets) of Britain.”
He declined to comment “on the security and policing side of it” when pressed on the apparent unpreparedness of officers, adding that “on the whole, the police handled it very well”.
Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick also condemned the disruption but added that he understood the frustration with small boats crossing the Channel carrying migrants.
The economic spokesman for Nigel Farage’s party’s told Sky News: “I’ve always hated people obstructing other people doing their daily life, whether it’s Just Stop Oil or whatever.
“And I don’t like people going around in balaclavas, which is obviously very intimidating. In fact, our party’s policy is to ban face coverings like that.
“But do I understand why people are extremely frustrated? Yes, absolutely. This needs to end. This farce of the small boats has been going on for far too long.
“And in fact you saw at our conference Nigel Farage and (National Rally president) Jordan Bardella, the likely next prime minister of France, signing an agreement which has the prospect of ending this once and for all.”
But, he added of the Dover demonstrators, “you do not go about it in this way, and the police should take whatever action they can to stop this happening again.”
MORE ABOUT