Police yet to speak to Dover protest organisers

Kent Police is yet to speak to organisers of a protest which blocked access to the Port of Dover for several hours, according to an assistant chief constable.

The demonstrators, dressed in black and wearing face coverings, were heard chanting "stop the boats" during the protest on Saturday.

More than 48 hours on, Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Brookes said the force was inviting those behind the event, which he said was lawful, to get in touch.

Officers have admitted not knowing about the protest in advance, leading to accusations of a failure in intelligence-gathering.

On Sunday, several officers were injured and vehicles damaged in Portsmouth at a demonstration sparked by the arrival of 120 migrants.

Meanwhile, Dover and Deal MP Mike Tapp said questions needed to be asked about why it appeared police "didn't know" about the Dover demonstration beforehand.

Brookes said: "We will examine the intelligence process, but it is important to note that we do not as a matter of course monitor peaceful protesters, and their political viewpoints are not taken into consideration."

He has asked for organisers to "reach out to us" to "discuss not only the events which took place on Saturday but how, if there are plans to resume protests of that nature, we can work and police those protests".

He said the force did not use its powers to disperse people as it spoke to them and they left of their own accord.

Although no boats arrived on the day of the Dover protest, eight did on Sunday, carrying 625 people, Home Office figures show.

Police made no arrests in Dover and previously called the protest "spontaneous".

Brookes has since said the matter was described as such because it was not notified in advance and was "spontaneously responding".

The force said the incident had developed "rapidly" but said by midday, everyone involved had dispersed and access to the port was restored to normal.

Brookes added: "We will always support people's right to peaceful protest, and we will always seek to police proportionately, fairly, and reasonably.

"We do not take account of why people are protesting, or the rights, wrongs, or reasonableness of that as that is not a matter for the police."

Tapp said the incident, which started at about 07:00 BST, caused "absolutely awful disruption" for residents.

He added: "In this instance, it would appear that the police didn't know about it, and the resources were pretty thin on the ground, to be quite honest, from what I saw."

Anti-hate organisation Hope Not Hate claimed the Patriot Platform network arranged it, saying the group began meeting in July and had brought together members of anti-migrant groups from around the country.

The demonstrators told the BBC on Saturday they did not want to talk to the media, although one said "send them back" and another said "stop the boats" when approached.

Brookes said the only offence the force was investigating was criminal damage to a road.

Demonstrations against immigration are common in Dover, as it is the location where migrants picked up from small boats in the English Channel are brought to shore.

They are typically advertised in advance, however, and Saturday's protest was on a larger scale.

Brookes said there had been "some discussion" about the protesters wearing face coverings, adding: "To do so is not, in itself, sufficient to establish a criminal offence."

He said: "Moving forward, we will seek to identify and engage with those who attended to understand their future plans in a bid to support their rights to peaceful protest and balance them with the needs of the local community, who we remain steadfast in supporting and protecting."

Matthew Scott, Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent, added: "I have remained in close contact with the Chief Constable and Deputy Chief Constable about the protest that took place in Dover.

"To the residents and businesses of Dover, I am sorry that you have again been subject to disruption.

"Whilst I do respect the right to peaceful protest, I do condemn the intimidating tactics used by those gathered.

"Kent Police is debriefing Saturday's incident and I will closely monitor this."

Speaking in the House of Commons earlier, Tapp said Saturday's protest was not spontaneous but well organised.

He asked policing minister, Sarah Jones, whether she would ensure intelligence for matters like this was strong enough for police to respond accordingly.

Jones said she had spoken to the Deputy Chief Constable of Kent Police, Peter Ayling, and that police were not told beforehand about Saturday's protest.

But she said it was clearly planned by the organisers and involved people coming from outside the area and "causing chaos".

Since the 2024 riots after the Southport stabbing, she said the government had "beefed up" the structure surrounding the national coordination of protests, which had improved intelligence sharing and finding information about protests online.

She said the offer of mutual aid worked well on the weekend, but added "we will make sure we learn the lessons" regarding intelligence.

The weekend's disruption comes just days after Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron met to discuss how to "scale up" efforts to reduce small boat crossings.

But while the number of boat crossings over summer months has dropped to its lowest since 2019, smugglers appear to have started loading more people onto fewer, larger vessels dubbed "mega dinghies".

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