Use all powers necessary on anti-migrant protests, home secretary tells police
Two anti-migrant protests took place in Dover and Portsmouth last weekend.
On Thursday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood instructed police chiefs to utilize all necessary powers in response to recent anti-migrant protests in Dover and Portsmouth. She demanded reassurance that plans are in place for the police to swiftly and efficiently confront far-right groups attempting to intimidate communities. The protests, which saw masked activists bringing Dover to a standstill on Saturday and about 200 individuals attempting to obstruct migrants from being transported for processing in Portsmouth on Sunday, caused significant disruption.
Mahmood expressed concern over the unacceptable disorder caused by the demonstrations and highlighted the fear factor associated with masked individuals. She emphasized that these situations are distinct from regular protests and necessitate thorough learning and preparation. The BBC reports that police chiefs are currently contemplating the use of a recently granted power to completely prohibit face coverings in specific areas due to the nature of these demonstrations.
The meeting also addressed the emergence of a group called Patriot Platform, which is believed by ministers to aim at intimidating communities. Mahmood instructed police chiefs to enhance intelligence gathering to ensure better plans are in place for the upcoming weekend. This request followed a recent incident where Kent Police had been warned about a potential demonstration in Dover but had not thoroughly assessed the alert before the town's critical port road was blocked.
During the discussion, Mahmood emphasized the government's expectation for police to utilize all available powers and address criminal offenses robustly. The changes in protest laws over the past three years have empowered officers to act more quickly to halt demonstrations blocking critical national infrastructure, such as roads to ports. Police chiefs have also initiated an enhanced and coordinated approach to intelligence gathering in the coming days.
Written by urgent.news from BBC News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
