Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of British democracy, but masked mobs and thuggish disorder in the streets of Portsmouth cross a line nobody should defend. Hundreds of officers were tied up holding back crowds instead of answering emergency calls, leaving residents less safe. Credit belongs to the coastguard, RNLI crews and police who handled an extraordinary night with real professionalism.
Ordinary people standing up for their own communities get treated like criminals, while those arriving illegally are welcomed and processed with every courtesy. That backwards double standard is exactly why frustration is boiling over in Portsmouth and towns like it. Defending family, neighborhood and country is not thuggery — it's the most basic instinct there is.
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