Protesters Clash With Police After 140 Migrants Land in Portsmouth

Was this thuggish disorder that put residents at risk or were ordinary people simply defending their communities?

Published 1 day ago

Protesters Clash With Police After 140 Migrants Land in Portsmouth

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Above: Police officers at Eastney Point, near Eastney Beach, Portsmouth, on Sept. 7. Image credit: PA/PA Images/Getty Images

The Spin

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 a challenging night with real professionalism.

Stephen Morgan on X Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire & Isle of Wight

Once again, 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 and natural instinct there is.

Rupert Lowe on X

Tommy Robinson on X

Metaculus Prediction

There is a 21% chance that Labour will reduce small boat crossings in the English Channel by at least 50% during the 59th parliament term, according to the Metaculus prediction community.