Right-wing protesters have clashed with police in the British city of Portsmouth as they tried to prevent a group of newly arrived migrants from being processed, videos from the scene show.
A small boat which departed Normandy in France with some 140 asylum seekers aboard was intercepted by the UK authorities in the English Channel and escorted to Portsmouth, British media reported on Sunday.
The news prompted hundreds of anti-immigrant activists to head to the city in Hampshire in south-eastern England. The demonstrators blocked roads in the area in an attempt to prevent buses from delivering the migrants to a Home Office processing center in the village of Manston in Kent.
The protesters, many of whom were dressed in black and wore face masks, chanted: “Stop the boats” and “Send them back.”
Footage from the scene captured minor scuffles between the activists and police armed with riot shields. The demonstrators were also filmed throwing objects at the officers.
Riot police clash with protestors in Portsmouth after small boat arrival. Shot for @PApic.twitter.com/JavKFpfVVa
Daniel Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, who recently founded the Patriot Platform group, said in a live stream from the scene that “we will not accept this anymore.”
BREAKING:The police and anti-migration activists are facing off with each other in the sea near Portsmouth.After the police started splashing water on the activists, they responded with the same measure. The activists are there to block illegal migrants from being disembarked…
“This is no longer an option to tell us that the boat numbers are down. This isn’t about the numbers being down… this is about understanding that this has to come to an end now,” Thomas, who is an associate of prominent British right-wing activist Tommy Robinson, said of the flow of migrants from the other side of the channel.
🚨 LIVE FROM EASTNEY, PORTSMOUTHPolice have attempted to gain ground on patriots by reversing vehicles into them.One man decided to lay down to try and stop them.Pepper spray is being used by police.🎥 @WesleyWinterYThttps://t.co/6U358pa0iZpic.twitter.com/Y1gSIk46rJ
The demonstrators said they intended to continue blocking the roads all night, but ended the rally at around 3 AM local time after police obtained a dispersal order and warned that officers would begin making arrests, according to The Guardian.
Police start attacking people & end up hitting an elderly man . Portsmouth 👇 pic.twitter.com/1VXq3xxegS
A British government spokesperson said that “we condemn the intimidating and thuggish behavior we are seeing tonight. The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder.”
A similar protest, also staged by Patriot Platform, took place in Dover on Saturday, with activists blocking roads out of the UK’s busiest international ferry and passenger port. The local councilor described the action as “coordinated” and “illegal.”
Some 33,000 people, mostly adult men, arrived in the UK in small boats between July 2025 and 2026, making up around 88% of all illegal migrants entering the country, according to government data. During the same period in 2024 and 2025, the number of asylum seekers crossing the channel stood at 41,000.
A YouGov poll published in August showed that 69% of Britons believe immigration over the past decade has been too high, while 43% said it had been mostly bad for the country, up from 33% in 2016.
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