UK condemns anti-immigrant protesters blocking migrants at Portsmouth port

London,UPDATED: Sep 7, 2026 23:58 IST

The British government on Monday condemned what it called the ‘intimidating and thuggish behaviour’ of anti-immigrant demonstrators who gathered at a port in southern England where migrants were brought ashore after crossing the English Channel.

Hundreds of protesters, many in dark clothing and masks, faced off with police in Portsmouth late on Sunday and tried to stop lifeboats from bringing migrants to land. They later attempted to block buses taking the new arrivals to an asylum processing facility.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said police were investigating possible assaults that left a small number of officers injured, along with damage to official vehicles.

‘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,’ policing minister Sarah Jones said.

The Portsmouth protest came a day after hundreds of masked anti-immigration demonstrators blocked roads leading to Dover, Britain’s busiest ferry port, on Saturday. The action caused traffic congestion and disrupted travellers as well as cargo vehicles heading to France.

Both groups appeared to be led by Daniel Thomas, an ally of veteran far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson.

Successive UK governments have struggled to stop people making the dangerous crossing across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. More than 40,000 people made the journey last year. The issue has been presented as a crisis by politicians including Nigel Farage of the hard-right Reform UK party, and has also been used as a rallying point by anti-immigration activists.

The government has said stronger law enforcement cooperation between Britain and France has helped reduce the number of people making the crossing so far this year by more than 40 per cent compared with 2025.

Farage said he supported peaceful protest, but criticised the group for hiding their identities and dressing like paramilitaries. Thomas, the founder of Patriot Platform, defended the protesters’ use of masks and balaclavas. He said the ‘working-class men’ were not trying to intimidate anyone but did not want to be ‘labelled far right’.

The boat that arrived in Portsmouth had left early on Sunday from Normandy, well west of the beaches near Calais from where most crossings usually begin, making it a longer and riskier journey. Officials had initially said about 140 migrants were on board, but Jones later told Parliament that the boat was carrying about 120 people.

A spokesperson for Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said lifeboats, a coastguard helicopter and a plane were involved in bringing the migrants ashore. The Home Office said eight boats crossed the Channel on Sunday, carrying 625 migrants to the UK. The latest protests in Portsmouth and Dover have again brought attention to both the dangerous crossings and the tensions surrounding migrant arrivals in Britain.

With PTI Inputs

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