Gosport people 'absolutely right' to be angry about migrants landing, says MP Caroline Dinenage

Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage says people in the town are “absolutely right” to be angry about the ongoing migrant fiasco.

Late in the evening on Sunday, October 4, a boat reportedly carrying 149 migrants made landfall in Gosport, having crossed the English Channel from France. It is the first time that one of these boats has arrived in the town, after a previous crossing was diverted to Dover.

Speaking to GB News earlier today (Monday, October 5), the Conservative MP confirmed she has contacted the Home Office on multiple occasions.

Ms Dinenage said: “I was given absolutely forewarning, and I have still not been contacted by the Home Office or the government in any capacity to alert me, offer any assistance or give me any information that I can share with my constituents to try and address this really unpleasant and difficult situation that we’ve seen unfold in Gosport.

“I cannot express how furious I am. Like local residents, I was beginning to pick up stories that there was another boat crossing the Channel in our neck of the woods yesterday (October 4) afternoon. I directly reached out to the Home Office minister, I’ve still not received a response.

“This comes in the wake of both myself, the leader of Gosport Borough Council, Cllr Zoe Huggins, and our police and crime commissioner Donna Jones all writing to the Home Secretary, expressing in the strongest possible terms that this is not a suitable location to land these boats. Gosport is a peninsula with inadequate transport links.

“Local people are feeling very angry on so many levels, and they are absolutely right to - they have been kept in the dark about what was happening. We’ve seen our own local resources, thousands of pounds worth of police resources, has had to go into managing the policing of this, against their will.”

The long-standing Gosport politician has written another letter to the Home Office today, calling for communication over the “gross mismanagement” of the migrant operation in the town.

Ms Dinenage added that residents were “left feeling vulnerable, some felt trapped in their houses - and some local roads barricaded by police”. She asked the Home Office to reimburse the borough council for the clean-up costs, plus Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary for policing costs, as well as why the vessel was not re-diverted to Dover as it was previously.

In her TV interview, Ms Dinenage was also asked about the dispersal order issued by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, which gives police the power to move people on from the entire Gosport peninsula. The Conservative MP urged protesters to go about their demonstrations peacefully, after reports of criminal damage last night.

At the time of publication, 12 people have been arrested in connection with the protests, police have confirmed.

She said: “Police are just trying to do what they can to keep people safe in the most difficult circumstances, and it’s unacceptable on every level.

“I absolutely understand the fury and the outrage of people in Gosport and beyond, who want to fight about what they see as our views being run roughshod over. What I would say is that it’s really important that, as much as you make your voices heard, you do so peacefully, because it impacts the lives of others.

“There was criminal damage to property, there were nails being put on the road to try and stop the coaches leaving - but they will impact other people’s cars. I fully support people’s right to protest and be furious about this - I’m furious about it myself - we just have to be mindful of the lives of other people who live in the community.”