Anger at police over Dover port blockade

Local police have been criticized for their response to a protest that brought Britain's busiest international ferry and passenger port to a halt on Saturday.

A group of up to 500 black-clad masked men, protesting against immigration, staged what has been called an "exceptionally well organized" protest at the port of Dover, on the Kent coast, which is where there is the shortest crossing point between Great Britain and the European mainland, and which is one of the main destinations of small boats full of migrants crossing from France.

Kevin Mills, the Labour Party leader of Dover District Council, told the BBC that demonstrators "caught several agencies on the hoof" when they turned up, and that local police had been slow to respond.

"The protesters knew what they were doing, I'm not sure the police did know what was going to happen," he added.

The protest lasted around five hours, and there were no reports of any violence or damage, with Kent Police saying that no arrests were made as it was a "spontaneous" protest, but local member of Parliament Mike Tapp said he would be asking questions of government ministers about what had been allowed to happen.

"We know that laws were broken because they were blocking the roads and wearing face coverings," he said. "There's no way that wasn't coordinated. It's coordinated in the fact that they've all arrived at the same place at the same time, wearing the same clothes."

The Times newspaper reported that mask-wearing protesters could face fines or even jail time under new legislation, which allows police to declare areas a temporary mask-free zone if they have reason to believe crime is likely to be committed or already has been.

Police have not yet formally commented on Saturday's events, but government minister Jonathan Reynolds said "Peaceful protest is an essential part of British life, but that is not what we saw there, with that kind of intimidatory behavior."

Prominent right-wing campaigners have shared video footage of the event on social media, seemingly taking credit for it, but the "hands-off" approach of police has provoked an angry response, with many people contrasting it with the handling of incidents involving pro-Palestine campaigners, or the Just Stop Oil climate change protest movement.

In 2024, five Just Stop Oil supporters were jailed for between four and five years for planning disruptive non-violent protests on London's M25 orbital motorway, with the judge telling them their actions had "crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic".

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