Disorder after small-boat arrival ‘cannot be repeated’ says council leader
The warning followed the migrant protests in Eastney
A council leader has warned that the disorder seen after a small boat was brought ashore in Hampshire must not be repeated elsewhere on the coast.
Gosport Borough Council leader Cllr Zoe Huggins said agencies needed to be “properly prepared” for changing risks linked to people-smuggling gangs. Her warning comes after around 120 people were brought ashore at Eastney in Portsmouth on Sunday.
The arrival sparked an overnight protest, with demonstrators blocking roads near the marina as police protected coaches intended to take those rescued from the boat away for immigration processing.
Hampshire police imposed a dispersal order and later said officers had been injured and vehicles damaged during the stand-off.
Cllr Huggins was responding to Reform Gosport leader Cllr Paul Carter, who called for an urgent full council meeting to examine whether the borough and its partners could cope if a similar incident happened locally.
In a letter sent on Monday, Cllr Carter claimed Gosport could become a future landing site following the voyage from the Normandy coast.
He said the peninsula’s infrastructure was already under pressure and argued the council did not have the resources to deal with a major emergency involving “significant numbers” of arrivals.
Cllr Carter said elected members should be given the chance to scrutinise emergency planning, establish the council’s position and ensure plans and resources were in place.
But Cllr Huggins stressed that responsibility for Border Force and Home Office operations rested with central government.
She said: “We do not want to see what happened in Portsmouth at the weekend repeated in Gosport or anywhere else.
“The events demonstrate the need for Government, Border Force, the police and local partners to be properly prepared for the changing risks associated with people-smuggling gangs exploiting new routes.”
The boat was intercepted after heading towards the Hampshire coast, only a day after a large group of masked men held a demonstration over small-boat crossings at Dover.
Cllr Huggins said any change in risk had to be understood and clearly communicated to partners, particularly if it could affect infrastructure, policing, emergency services and communities.
She added: “Any councillor can request an extraordinary council meeting, and we are happy to work with Cllr Carter to appropriately address his concerns or bring appropriate business to full council.”
Those brought ashore were later taken outside Hampshire for processing.