Politicians have denounced a balaclava-wearing crowd that descended on the Port of Dover on Saturday, after anti-migrant demonstrators warned the action was “only the beginning”.
Hundreds of black-clad men brought Britain’s busiest ferry terminal to a standstill, triggering hours of disruption and long tailbacks stretching across nearby roads.
Video from the scene appeared to show protesters climbing out of the back of a van before moving through the town, chanting “Whose streets? Our streets” and “stop the boats” as dozens of police officers were deployed to monitor the march.
Patriot Platform, a hard-Right network bringing together anti-migrant groups from across the UK, said it was behind the demonstration and had initially threatened three days of disruption.
By Sunday morning, senior figures including Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds had joined criticism of the group, describing the scenes as intimidating.
Kevin Mills, leader of Dover District Council, also questioned the police response, arguing officers had been too slow to react to what he described as an “exceptionally well organised” mobilisation.
Politicians have condemned the balaclava-clad crowd that stormed the Port of Dover, as anti-migrant protesters warned the action was “only the beginning”
Kent Police said officers were responding to an ongoing “public order incident” and were “engaging with protesters”
Britain’s busiest ferry port was blockaded by hundreds of men dressed in black, causing an hours-long gridlock and miles of tailbacks on surrounding roads
Mr Jenrick said he understood the frustration with small boats crossing the Channel carrying migrants, but added: ‘I don’t like people going around in balaclavas.’
Asked whether he condemned the demonstrations, the Reform UK economics spokesman told Sky News’ Sunday Morning programme: ‘I absolutely do. 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.’
However, 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.’
Mr Reynolds earlier told the same programme: ‘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 the police, adding that ‘on the whole, the police handled it very well’.
Mr Mills told the BBC today that ‘the protesters knew what they were doing, I’m not sure the police did know what was going to happen’.
‘But then I accept that the police resource is stretched,’ he said, adding that the demonstration had ‘caught several agencies on the hoof’.
Patriot Platform was founded earlier this year by hard-Right influencer Daniel Thomas – who goes by Danny Tommo online – who has previously declared the group’s aim is to ‘take control of this country’.
He last night praised the ‘organisation, discipline, dedication, and courage’ of the group before warning: ‘This is only the beginning.’
‘Well done, lads and lasses. You stuck to the plan and maintained complete discipline. I’m so proud of all of you! You all understood how important this was,’ he wrote.
But he appeared to row back on the group’s vow to cause three days of disruption saying he was ‘now switching off as I’m mentally exhausted’.
He said: ‘I’ll see you boys in a few week for updated meetings and vetting. Now we continue to build much bigger!’
Thomas shared footage of scores of masked protesters marching through Dover, writing: ‘It’s time. Protect Our Country! And more importantly our women and children! This is our warning.’
In another video, he showed ‘blood is on your hands’ had been spray painted on the ground outside a migrant facility.
The group and many members shared a poster of the white cliffs of Dover, calling for donations of water and supplies for their ‘patriots’.
Migrants disembark from a Border Force vessel after docking at Dover today
Roads in Dover were gridlocked for hours on Saturday because of the protests, with four-mile tailbacks forming
A group of masked men wait on the platform at Dover Priory station following the protest
Footage showed the men marching through the town and chanting ‘Whose streets? Our streets’ and ‘stop the boats’
The protesters descend on Dover Priory station following the demonstration
In April, Thomas was arrested for aggravated trespassing and banned from Dover, Ramsgate and Folkestone.
And last month, he admitted entering a restricted area of Dover’s harbour without lawful authority. Thomas is alleged to have entered the port to film and shout at small boats arriving in Britain.
He denies five further charges, including alleged threatening and racially abusive behaviour.
A Government spokesman said yesterday that ‘the right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but we condemn the behaviour in Dover and the travel disruption it has caused’.
They added: ‘We thank policing partners and travel providers who we continue to work with to ensure the safety of passengers and the wider community.’
Councillor Chris Vinson, leader of the Conservative group on Dover District Council, said several hundred masked men appeared to have arrived in rental vans before blocking roads and bringing the town ‘to a standstill’.
He said there had been no reports of violence but described men wearing black ‘paramilitary gear’ and balaclavas blocking vehicles as ‘extremely intimidating’.
Mike Tapp, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal, questioned why Kent Police were seemingly caught out by the protest, which he said was visibly ‘co-ordinated’ given they all arrived at the ‘same place at the same time, wearing the same clothes’.
The former Home Office minister added: ‘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 Our News Outlet it was a ‘spontaneous event and was policed accordingly’.
The force made no arrests and escorted the protesters to Dover Priory train station at around midday. At least 100 protesters were seen boarding a train to Ramsgate. Some have since been spotted in nearby Sandwich where ‘police are in attendance’.
Thomas has described the organisation as a ‘resistance’ movement and claimed tens of thousands of people have signed up.
He has also promoted increasingly confrontational rhetoric, calling for supporters to take ‘direct action’ and put ‘boots on the ground’.
Patriot Platform declared on its website that it ‘needs people prepared to act’ to defend Britain.
Thomas previously shared his plan to ‘deploy multiple boats in the English Channel and at the Port of Dover, combined with determined boots on the ground’.
In May, he posted on X: ‘Together we will reclaim our borders, restore order, and send a clear message: Britain belongs to the British people and we are taking it back.’
His group claims to be motivated by ‘a love of country, responsibility to our families and belief in Britain’s future’.
