'A sad day for Portsmouth' - MPs raise concerns over handling of small boat arrival in Eastney as policing minister says protesters will face 'full force of the law'
Home Office Minister makes statement on Portsmouth protest
Policing minister Sarah Jones has said that protestors who “cross the line” into illegality will face the “full force of the law”, as she spoke to MPs following protests in Portsmouth this morning.
On Sunday, September 6, two RNLI boats arrived in Eastney welcomed by a large emergency services presence after around 120 migrants had been rescued at sea. Following the news of the arrival, a number of protestors gathered to block the route of coaches that had arrived to pick up the migrants.
The Home Office called the behaviour of some protestors as “intimidating and thuggish”.
Ms Jones told the Commons she did not want to “minimise the very valid concerns that law-abiding people have” about migration, fuelled by the work of “vile criminal gangs”.
Addressing the protests in Portsmouth on Sunday, Ms Jones said: “A boat carrying approximately 120 people reached British waters near the Isle of Wight, considerably further west than the majority of small boat crossings.”
She said the RNLI acted “under the direction HM Coastguard” to meet the boat and take it into the Portsmouth area, after which “a group of more than 200 protesters arrived at the harbour, intending to block three coaches which were due to take the arrivals for processing”.
The protesters began to disperse at around 4am, Ms Jones said. Demonstrators who “cross the line from peaceful protest into illegality will face the full force of the law”, the policing minister has said.
Making a statement about protests in Dover in Kent at the weekend, and Eastney in Portsmouth, Sarah Jones told the Commons that “these types of incidents require careful handling by the police”, as she thanked “all those who were part of the operational responses”.
She later added: “I have today spoken to key policing partners. As the House would expect in the wake of such incidents, work is ongoing to establish any lessons and ensure that relevant intelligence is shared at pace across our law enforcement system.
“Peaceful protest is a fundamental part of our democracy and it must be defended. But so too is the right of other citizens to go about their lives without undue interference – and there can be no excuse for threatening behaviour or serious disruption.
“Let me therefore make clear to the House and to the country that disorder of any kind will never be tolerated and those who cross the line from peaceful protest into illegality will face the full force of the law.”
A number of local MPs addressed the Commons asking for answers on the government’s approach to protecting the UK’s borders.
Suella Braverman, Reform MP for Fareham and Waterlooville, said local people are “terrified”, “furious and desperate” and are not far right racists. She labelled the government’s response as “pathetic” and asked for assurances that the security of the naval dockyard in Portsmouth would be maintained “given the invasion has now reached Hampshire.”
Dame Caroline Dinenage MP criticised the “radio silence” from the Home Office yesterday afternoon as the incident unfolded and asked if police had been properly prepared with “over 140” officers being “dragged away” from local communities and further afield.
“We still know very little about this extraordinary mega dinghy turning up on our shoes.” The MP for Gosport said. “Where was the intelligence on this?”
In response to a query from Caroline Dinenage if landing further west from Dover could be seen more frequently, the Minister for State said it was partly due to current measures “making it harder” for criminal gangs to launch from their traditional places but there is “no evidence” to suggest they want to land anywhere specifically in the UK.
The MP for Havant, Alan Mak, said he believed that anybody who entered the UK illegally should be deported within a week and “banned from claiming asylum”. He said that Labour had “lost control of the borders” with Ms Jones responding that Labour “restoring” the control that was lost by the previous government.
Earlier in her her statement, the Minister of State said: “Let us never forget that the frustration we see in our communities today is a product of chaos and crisis in the years that preceded the general election of 2024.”
MP for Portsmouth North, Amanda Martin, said: “This is a sad day for Portsmouth. My city saw a peaceful protest turn into disorder last with people coming from outside the city, some wearing face covering to intimidate those working on land and sea and damaging police vehicles.
“I welcome the government’s progress but more needs to be done. The emergence of new routes and larger boats is deeply worrying for my city.”
Stephen Morgan, the MP for Portsmouth South was in attendance but was not able to speak due to his role as a minister.