Protestors confuse Pakistan cricket team for migrants as they gather outside Portsmouth hotel for nothing

Dumb-founded protestors were left scratching their heads after they confused a Pakistan cricket team for a coach of migrants.

Demonstrators gathered at The Marriott Hotel in Southampton Road, Cosham, last night (September 8). This was spurred on after a boat of 120 asylum seekers were brought to Eastney on Sunday (September 6), sparking protests which featured black-shirted men wearing balaclavas.

Hampshire County Council Reform UK Group Leader, George Madgwick, confirmed in a social media post that protestors believed a coach at the hotel was full of migrants. Instead, they were a Pakistan cricket team who had travelled for a series of matches. Disinformation spread online caused the incident.

Cllr Madgwick said the crowd contained around 40 to 50 people and quickly dispersed once they realised their mistake. “I visited the manager and the hotel explained it was a Pakistani Cricket team staying,” he said.

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“The cricket team coach came to speak to me personally and I saw proof. I then went to speak to the crowd gathering of 40/50 people and confirmed with them and assured them that it was a cricket team. Immediately the crowd respectfully accepted that, called for calm and asked the rest of them to leave now. Within five minutes they were gone. The hotel manager was very thankful and actually was sympathetic to the local issues at the moment.”

Cllr Madgwick said if the government does not get a grip of the small boats crisis, then more incidents like this would happen. Around 500 demonstrators gathered on Sunday to block roads leading out of the RNLI lifeboat station at Eastney. A coach was present to transport around 120 migrants to a processing centre in Kent.

Hampshire Police Federation said officers were attacked during the demonstrations. Chair of the federation, Spencer Wragg, said emergency personnel had stones and bricks thrown at them, while others were pushed off their bikes.

Similar misinformation spread on social media overnight that migrants were also at Travelodge in Kingston Crescent. Staff repeatedly told commenters that this was untrue.

Responding to the Marriott Hotel demonstration, Stand Up To Racism said: “Allowing racists to mobilise like this every time they become suspicious of any group of non-white people in Portsmouth is extremely dangerous. It is racism in action and it has to stop.”