Black-clad Dover protesters condemned for ‘dressing up in costumes’ by minister
Business secretary says masked anti-immigration protest was ‘not something we would want’ on British streets A cabinet minister has condemned the blocking of Dover roads by dozens of masked and black-clad people on Saturday. Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said that although peaceful protest was an “essential part of British life”, this differed from “dressing up in costumes like this…
On Saturday, a protest in Dover caused disruptions on the A20 roads as dozens of masked and black-clad protesters blocked traffic, according to a cabinet minister's condemnation. Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, stated that while peaceful protest is an essential part of British life, the protesters' actions differed as they "dressed up in costumes" and disrupted people's lives.
He criticized the disruption caused for local residents, emphasizing that such behavior was not something the government would want or expect to see on British streets.
Patriot Platform, an anti-immigration group with ties to the far right, claimed responsibility for the demonstration. Kent police attended and engaged with the protest, which Kent police described as a "public order incident." No arrests were made during the incident, and protesters dispersed by lunchtime. Traffic in and out of the port was halted, leading to delays of up to 45 minutes and four miles of congestion, as reported by National Highways.
Videos shared online depicted masked individuals in black marching on the road in a group, with lorries waiting in traffic next to police cars. One livestreamer estimated that he was marching with hundreds of people. Social media videos showed demonstrators chanting "stop the boats" and "England till I die" while linking arms in a blockade across the A20.
Mike Tapp, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal, expressed concerns about the protest, noting that it was clearly coordinated and not "spontaneous" as initially described by the police. He questioned whether intelligence had been missed and called for a review, emphasizing that concerns around illegal migration are not racist but illegal obstruction of highways is a criminal offense.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
