Portsmouth RNLI station shuts after protest threats as mask ban arrests follow
Portsmouth's RNLI lifeboat station has closed temporarily after volunteers faced abuse, while police use face-covering bans and make arrests at further anti-migrant protests.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Anti-migrant protests that began in Dover and spread to Portsmouth have now led to a second weekend of demonstrations, arrests under new face-covering powers, and the temporary closure of Portsmouth's RNLI lifeboat station after volunteers faced abuse.
Hundreds of masked demonstrators, many in black and balaclavas, blocked roads around the Port of Dover on the Saturday of the first weekend. They chanted stop the boats and brought traffic on the A20 and M20 to a standstill. The Port of Dover described a public order incident affecting all routes in and out. Kent Police said officers engaged with protesters. No arrests were made. The protest dispersed by lunchtime when police escorted demonstrators to Dover Priory railway station.
The action appeared to take authorities by surprise. Police described it as spontaneous, but it was highly organised. Men arrived in pre-arranged groups. The event was promoted by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and anti-hate group Hope Not Hate said it was arranged by the Patriot Platform. The group was set up in July by Danny Thomas, also known as Danny Tomo. He has a previous conviction for attempted kidnap and has been linked to Tommy Robinson. He called for mass resistance to immigration but said he did not want violence.
On the Sunday, attention moved to Portsmouth. A single dinghy carrying about 140 migrants was rescued in the Channel after setting off from the western side of the Bay of the Seine, much further west than the usual Calais route. The journey was roughly 170 miles from Calais and significantly longer and more dangerous. Two RNLI lifeboats brought the migrants ashore near Portsmouth. The Home Office later said 625 migrants on eight boats were brought ashore in Dover and Portsmouth that day.
Hundreds of protesters gathered near the landing stage and tried to stop coaches taking the migrants to the Manston processing centre in Kent. Police in riot gear faced off with demonstrators. Some officers were injured and vehicles were damaged, including a Home Office truck and police cars. A dispersal order was issued in the early hours and the crowd left. There were no arrests at that stage. The government condemned what it called intimidating and thuggish behaviour. Hampshire's police and crime commissioner described the events as a wake-up call and said many people were frustrated by weak border controls.
The protests came as the government continued to argue that small boat crossings are falling. It said crossings were down by more than 40 per cent compared with the same period last year, with more than 16,000 people crossing since January. But it also acknowledged that smugglers are adapting, using bigger boats and launching from further along the French coast. That shift was visible in the Portsmouth arrival, which was the first such boat landing in Hampshire and one of the longest Channel crossings by people smugglers.
Political reaction was sharp. Ministers said the right to peaceful protest is fundamental, but that the Dover and Portsmouth scenes crossed a line. The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, met police chiefs and urged them to use all powers necessary, including new powers to ban face coverings in specific areas. Police leaders said forces were ready to use those powers. Hampshire Police later announced that anyone wearing a face covering to conceal their identity at a planned protest in Portsmouth could be arrested. The Conservative opposition said the disorder reflected genuine anger about the government's failure to control the border, while Reform UK condemned masked protests but said it understood public frustration.
The fallout also hit the RNLI. The charity said volunteers had faced unacceptable online and physical abuse after bringing migrants ashore. Some crew members were called traitors, and their names, addresses and photographs were shared online. The RNLI advised volunteers to consider not wearing branded clothing in public and reviewed security at its locations. The Portsmouth lifeboat station was closed temporarily, with the charity hoping to reopen it as soon as possible. The RNLI said small boat incidents make up just over 1 per cent of its rescue work and that it makes no judgement about who it rescues.
A week later, anti-immigration protesters and counter-protesters gathered again in Portsmouth. South Coast Patriots led an anti-migration march, while Stand Up to Racism organised a counter-demonstration. Police enforced a face-covering ban across a designated area. Around 1,500 anti-migration protesters and several hundred counter-protesters took part. The event was largely peaceful, though there were some scuffles and angry shouting. Police made three arrests, including one person suspected of violent disorder in the previous weekend's demonstrations and one on suspicion of concealing their identity. A 76-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of concealing his identity, and was later charged.
The weekend also produced an unrelated error in Portsmouth. Members of Pakistan's under-19 cricket team were staying in a hotel when a crowd gathered after wrongly believing they were migrants. The Pakistan Cricket Board said people knocked on the team's doors at night. Police said the situation de-escalated and no offences were committed.
The story now reaches beyond two days of protest. It has become a test of policing, border control and public trust, with further demonstrations planned and police under pressure to act faster and use new powers.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC News | BBC One | BBC Two | Channel 4 | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A protest was promoted by Tommy Robinson. | · | |||||||
| Labour MP Mike Tapp criticised the protest and claimed small boat crossings were down by 40%. | · | |||||||
| The organiser of the protests, Daniel Thomas, has a previous conviction for attempted kidnap. | · | |||||||
| Home Secretary met with senior police officers and urged them to use all powers necessary to deal with far-right groups and masked protesters. | · | · | ||||||
| Hundreds of protesters gathered in Portsmouth on Sunday night. | · | · | ||||||
| Kent Police were engaging with protesters at the Port of Dover. | · | · | ||||||
| No arrests were made. | · | · | ||||||
| RNLI volunteers were advised to consider not wearing branded clothing in public for their own safety. | · | · | ||||||
| Some RNLI members had their photos and names shared on social media and were accused of treason. | · | · | ||||||
| The government condemned the behaviour. | · | · | ||||||
| Traffic along the A20 was brought to a standstill, affecting lorries and holidaymakers. | · | · | ||||||
| A boat carrying 140 migrants crossed from western Normandy, about 170 miles from the usual Calais crossing point. | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC News framed the story around official confirmation and government response, from Kent Police engaging protesters at Dover to the Home Secretary urging police chiefs to use all powers. It also highlighted the role of Tommy Robinson and the Patriot Platform, and later the RNLI abuse and face-covering powers. The tone stayed institutional and cautious.
- “The UK government says it condemns the behaviour in Dover and the travel disruption caused.”
- “The event was promoted by the far-right activist, Tommy Robinson.”
- “the home secretary has urged police chiefs to ensure that officers use all powers necessary and move quickly to deal with far-right groups and masked protesters”
Sky gave rolling live coverage with dramatic footage and a strong focus on policing failures and the organisers. Its most distinctive moment was Danny Tomo hijacking a Sky interview to defend the protests and describe a future voting bloc. Sky also tracked the later Portsmouth protest and the face-covering ban.
- “The government has condemned a protest by hundreds of masked demonstrators which blocked access to the port of Dover earlier today.”
- “What we're doing right now is creating an infrastructure of men, not for violence, not to commit crimes, but to create a voting bloc.”
- “It should not be that easy to cause disruption like this on that scale.”
BBC One West carried detailed rolling bulletins from Dover, Portsmouth and Poole, with eyewitness accounts and local MP reactions. It gave particular weight to the RNLI abuse and the temporary closure of the Portsmouth lifeboat station, as well as the second weekend protest and arrests.
- “Hundreds of masked demonstrators, many chanting, stop the boats, have prevented traffic from accessing the Port of Dover”
- “The head of Britain's lifeboat charity, the RNLI, says staff have faced unacceptable online and physical abuse following the anti-migrant protests at the weekend.”
- “It's emerged that the RNLI lifeboat station in Portsmouth has been closed since anti-immigration Protests in the city a week ago”
ITV1 focused on the political and policing response, the Portsmouth clashes, the mask ban and arrests. It reported the government's thuggish behaviour line, the local police and crime commissioner, and the second weekend protest with counter-demonstrators.
- “This government condemns the intimidating and thuggish behaviour shown by some of the protesters this weekend.”
- “Hampshire police say they will crack down on protesters wearing masks at a planned anti-migrant protest in Portsmouth this weekend.”
- “It was billed as a peaceful protest, but it was another reminder of how polarised our nation can be.”
Channel 4 highlighted intimidation, far-right organisation and an apparent intelligence failure. It led with residents' fear and the paramilitary appearance of masked men, and it questioned how the Dover disruption was allowed to happen.
- “There appears to be a complete intelligence failure here by the police and others, presumably.”
- “They were just standing in a kind of threatening way, and they were stunning like they were military militia types, with masks on and just glaring at everybody, like intimidation.”
- “The government said today that the right to protest is fundamental to democracy, but that it condemned what happened here in Dover today”
GB News framed the story as a border-control crisis and a backlash against what it called two-tier policing. Its coverage was sympathetic to protesters' anger, critical of government language, and gave space to calls for banning face coverings and claims about high crossing numbers.
- “Britain is a tinderbox right now.”
- “I personally support a ban on all face coverings in public.”
- “nearly 800 illegals have crossed the channel so far in the last 24 hours”
BBC Two used panel and interview formats to debate the politics of migration, protest law and the RNLI's role. It challenged claims that the situation was under control and defended the RNLI as an apolitical rescue service.
- “These are not British values and not something that we want to see.”
- “They are there to save lives It is up to the politicians to somehow broker a deal”
- “People who've behaved in an illegal and intimidatory manner, the responsibility for that lies with them.”
5 gave a human and public-reaction angle, including RNLI abuse, local views in Portsmouth, and the arrests under the face-covering ban. It also explained smuggling tactics and the political context in accessible terms.
- “The head of the RNLI has condemned threats made to volunteers during recent anti-migrant demonstrations.”
- “a 76-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of concealing his identity at an anti-immigration protest in Portsmouth”
- “Although there were no arrests, the behaviour of those on the streets has been condemned.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.