Police clash with anti-migrant protesters in Portsmouth after 120 asylum seekers land from Normandy

Unrest at Eastney Landing

Riot police confronted approximately 200 protesters at Eastney Landing near Portsmouth on the evening of Sunday, 6 September. The confrontation began after a large dinghy carrying around 120 asylum seekers reached the Hampshire shoreline following a 10-hour journey across the English Channel from Normandy. Demonstrators dressed in black and wearing balaclavas converged on the ferry port area to block three coaches scheduled to transport the arrivals outside the county for immigration processing. Officers from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary issued a dispersal notice and deployed batons alongside PAVA synthetic pepper spray to repel the crowd. Spencer Wragg, chair of the Hampshire Police Federation, reported that official vehicles were damaged, while demonstrators threw bricks and pushed officers off motorbikes, injuring several personnel, including a recruit who had completed training three days earlier.

Those scenes in that area of Portsmouth weren't protests, they weren't protests at all, it was clear that some people were intent on disorder and venting their frustrations.

Dover blockade and Channel crossings

The disorder in Hampshire followed a protest at the Port of Dover on Saturday, 5 September. Masked individuals chanting anti-migrant slogans blocked access routes to the port beginning at approximately 07:00 BST before dispersing around midday. Kent Police made no arrests during the demonstration, categorising the incident as spontaneous and lawful, though Dover and Deal MP Mike Tapp criticised the thin police presence and questioned why intelligence units failed to anticipate the gathering. Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Brookes defended the decision not to use force, noting that participants left voluntarily, and invited organisers to contact police regarding future demonstrations. Although zero migrant boats arrived at Dover on Saturday, Home Office records show eight boats carrying 625 people reached the United Kingdom on Sunday.

Parliamentary debate in Westminster

Policing Minister Sarah Jones updated the House of Commons on Monday, 7 September, confirming that police had launched investigations into assaults and criminal damage, with no arrests made by Monday evening. Jones labelled Patriot Platform, a group linked to the Dover event, as far-right, while attributing community tensions to border management under the previous Conservative administration.

This government condemns the intimidating and thuggish behaviour shown by some of the protesters this weekend.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp responded by urging the government to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and execute immediate deportations to address public anger. Suella Braverman, the Reform UK MP for Fareham and Waterlooville, asserted that local residents felt terrified rather than racist, criticising the Home Office response to Channel arrivals.

Route changes and organizer networks

Hard-right activist Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo and associated with Tommy Robinson, claimed to have organised both demonstrations, using YouTube livestreams to summon supporters to the Eastney beach area. Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones stated that people smugglers have altered operations by departing farther west along the Normandy coast, creating direct transit corridors to Portsmouth. The weekend events took place two days after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage signed a joint charter in France with National Rally leader Jordan Bardella on 4 September. Portsmouth City Council leader Steve Pitt called on the Home Office to explain why the vessel was directed to the city, before police escorted the coaches onto the motorway during the early hours of Monday as demonstrators followed the convoy.