The founder of a group of protesters who blocked roads in Dover on Saturday has confronted Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf, telling him his party leader Nigel Farage needs to be “careful with his words”.
Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo – who is an associate of ring-wing activist Tommy Robinson, claims to have organised a protest in Dover on Saturday which saw men in black clothing and balaclavas blocking roads.
He was also on the scene when migrants arrived in Portsmouth on Sunday.
Interrupting Mr Yusuf during an interview in the city, Mr Thomas accused Mr Farage of calling protesters at the Unite the Kingdom rally in London earlier in the year “knuckle-draggers”.
He said: “You have to tell Nigel… we had a million people on the streets of London in every colour, every creed, every background, every ethnicity… he called us knuckle-draggers.
“I understand Nigel is going to be prime minister one day and I understand he has to set a standard, which will basically be that you know he can’t just come out and say everything’s great and these guys are fantastic, but Nigel needs to be very careful with his words.”
Mr Yusuf told Mr Thomas to ensure there was no violence from his group towards the police.
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman said: “I just want to make that really clear, just so that we’re really clear about this, right? There is never any excuse for violence against police officers who are doing their job. They are taking orders, and that is what it is.”
Mr Thomas said there was no violence in Dover and, when questioned about his group’s masks and attire being intimidating, said: “The reason people felt potentially intimidated was because of the faces covered. I’ve made that point very clear. The only reason they’ve done that is because no-one wants to be labelled far right.”
Mr Thomas founded the group Patriot Platform in July, promoting it as a project to build “a mighty patriotic army”, partly to push back against migrants arriving in the UK by small boat.
Mr Thomas has openly recruited supporters using social media, but his protest action planned at Dover appears to have come as a surprise to the authorities, with Kent Police claiming it was “spontaneous”.
Livestreaming while standing in the sea at Portsmouth on Sunday, he said: “Roads are all blocked, they are never going to be able to leave here.”
He added: “It was only yesterday (at the protests in Dover) when we warned them that we will not accept this any more, and that this is no longer an option to tell us that the boat numbers are down.”
In an update on Monday, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said official vehicles were damaged and a handful of police officers injured during a stand-off with masked anti-migration protesters.
The force has launched an investigation into potential assaults and criminal damage after black-clad activists attempted to block migrants being driven away from Portsmouth overnight on Sunday.
The force said in a statement on Monday afternoon that around 200 activists had left the city at around 4am.
Portsmouth City Council leader Steve Pitt heavily criticised the decision to bring lifeboats carrying migrants to shore in the city, claiming it had “put people at risk” and caused “needless disruption”.
He said the Home Office has “serious questions to answer” after an “unsuitable” location was chosen to disembark the RNLI boats carrying the 140 or so migrants on Sunday.
Demonstrators blocked the road leading away from the RNLI Portsmouth Lifeboat Station at Eastney Marina, with photos showing police carrying riot shields forming a line and protecting a number of coaches that were parked up.
The landing site is on a narrow shingle bank with only one road to the city.
Coaches were able to leave in the early hours of Monday, taking all of those brought ashore to a location for processing in the usual way.
Footage posted to social media appeared to show protesters following the convoy of coaches along a motorway after it had left.
The video was shared with the caption: “In pursuit of migrant coaches from Portsmouth NOW!! We are heading towards DOVER.”
Mr Pitt said the council were not asked about the decision to allow the lifeboats to land in Portsmouth, which he described as a “completely unsuitable location”.
Meanwhile, a grandfather said he had to deflate his own dinghy to stop protesters taking it amid the scenes on Sunday night.
Barry John-Williams, 69, told the Press Association the protesters were “idiots” and some had offered him money to use his boat.
He said: “They (protesters) were offering to pay me money to take the boat and I said: ‘Look it’s staying there,’ and that’s why I deflated it. What they were going to do with it, I don’t know.
“One of the idiots, I heard him say they thought the migrants might have come in this boat,” he added, referring to his own small 2.7 metre-long dinghy.
The dinghy was met by lifeboats from the Isle of Wight when it reached UK waters, having set off from the Cherbourg area.
It is thought to have made one of the longest journeys of any small boat, and landings as far west as Hampshire are rare.
But officials believe it was a one-off rather than a sign of new tactics.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Farage said there was a difference between the masked protesters in Dover and the “little old ladies in Portsmouth”.
In a video posted on X, he said: “Masked marches on the streets of Dover, and a huge, spontaneous protest on the streets of Portsmouth last night.You’d be right in thinking that this country is now on the edge of serious civil disturbance.”
He added: “But let me please say this: people wearing masks, dressed up in a similar type uniform to a paramilitary, is not going to solve this problem. There is a marked difference between what happened in Dover and what happened last night in Portsmouth, the only way we’re going to solve this is through the ballot box.”
