Hundreds of anti-immigration protesters descended on Portsmouth on Sunday after a vessel carrying around 140 asylum seekers was intercepted in the English Channel and brought to the southern English city.
The boat had reportedly departed Normandy before UK authorities escorted it ashore, prompting demonstrators to block roads in an effort to stop buses transporting the arrivals to a Home Office processing facility in Manston, Kent. Protesters chanted “Stop the boats” and “Send them back,” while footage showed scuffles with riot-shield police and objects being thrown towards officers. Patriot Platform founder Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, told supporters that continued Channel crossings were no longer acceptable, arguing the issue was not simply whether arrival numbers had declined but that the crossings “have to come to an end now.”
Demonstrators initially planned to maintain the roadblocks overnight but dispersed at about 3am after police secured a dispersal order and warned arrests would follow.
Riot police clash with protestors in Portsmouth after small boat arrival. Shot for @PA pic.twitter.com/JavKFpfVVa
— Jamie Lashmar (@jamie_lashmar) September 6, 2026
The government condemned what it called “intimidating and thuggish behaviour,” while defending the right to peaceful protest. A similar Patriot Platform demonstration disrupted roads around Dover a day earlier.
Government figures cited in British media indicate about 33,000 people arrived by small boat between July 2025 and July 2026, down from roughly 41,000 during the previous comparable period, while an August YouGov poll found 69% of respondents believed immigration over the past decade had been too high.
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…
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 6, 2026
🚨 LIVE FROM EASTNEY, PORTSMOUTH
Police 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.
🎥 @WesleyWinterYT https://t.co/6U358pa0iZ pic.twitter.com/Y1gSIk46rJ
— The Nationalist GB (@TheNatGB) September 6, 2026
