On the morning of 5 September, a mob of over 100 masked racist thugs, dressed all in black, blockaded the Port of Dover in an anti-migrant protest. The racists occupied several roundabouts, causing miles of congestion along the A20 and forcing it to close in both directions, while chanting racist slogans. The following day, disorder erupted in Portsmouth when over 200 racists, again dressed in black, gathered after 120 migrants arrived in a dinghy. The racists blockaded Eastney Landing Port in order to prevent coaches transporting the migrants from the harbour. The racist mob fought with riot police throughout the night; one man has since been jailed for throwing bottles at the police.
Sustained racist terror followed. On 8 September, around 40 racists in Portsmouth stormed a hotel where the Pakistani under-19s cricket team were staying because they thought they were migrants. On 12 September 500 anti-migrant protesters marched through the city centre in Portsmouth. Stand up to Racism (SUTR) mobilised 300 people to oppose them. Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteers, whose job is to save lives at sea, have been doxxed by far-right activists and face constant threats, abuse and harassment.
These rampages have been mobilised by the Patriot Platform, a far-right, Christian nationalist group led by the privately educated former soldier Daniel Thomas (known as ‘Danny Tommo’ publicly). Following calls by Thomas on X/Twitter, hundreds of racists mobilised at the Gosport marina in Hampshire on 22 September to prevent the arrival of migrants who had been rescued at sea. Six racists were arrested and the migrants had to be taken to Dover instead. Thomas has since been arrested and charged after footage emerged of him slashing a boat on the English Channel with an emergency worker on board.
There is no anti-racist movement on the streets that is fighting back against this campaign of racist terror. Following the initial blockades in Portsmouth and Dover, Amnesty International released a statement condemning the rising levels of racist violence across the country. It calls the response of successive governments ‘woefully inadequate’ and ends its statement by calling on the government to ‘act with the urgency that is required and take concrete steps to put a stop to escalating racist violence and intimidation.’ It was signed by a whole host of political organisations, charities and NGOs, including SUTR, Stop the War Coalition and the Together Alliance. However, the statement says nothing about the fact that the British state itself is the main source of racist violence in the country – the current Labour government has deported 80,000 people since coming to power and has carried out record-breaking immigration raids and arrests. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised to be relentless on small boats and ‘illegal migration’.
To expect the state to take meaningful action against racism is asinine. The rise in racist attacks is the state’s hostile environment being carried out extrajudicially by racists who feel it does not go far enough. Those who cross the line, such as Daniel Thomas and those who participated in the 2024 racist riots, may face legal consequences but it is still the state that creates the conditions for the far right to exist in the first place. It is up to us to build the movement that can confront racism – both from the state and on the streets.
