Protests in Portsmouth, Hampshire, turned ugly on Sunday night, during which several officers with Hampshire Police suffered injuries and cars were damaged23:06, 06 Sep 2026Updated 18:03, 07 Sep 2026Riot police clash with protestors in Portsmouth after small boat arrivalPolice have today vowed to identify those responsible for assaulting officers and damaging vehicles amid ugly clashes at a protest last night.‌Demonstrations turned unsavoury in Portsmouth after a small boat thought to be transporting asylum seekers arrived at the British coast. Hampshire Police say several officers were treated for injuries sustained during the standoff, since described by a government minister as "thuggish and intimidating".‌The force said: "Violence and criminal damage have no part in peaceful protest." It has launched an investigation and believes around 200 anti-migration protesters left Portsmouth altogether at around 4am.‌Around 140 migrants in a single dinghy were rescued in the English Channel hours prior. It is thought the people on board the inflatable vessel launched from the Normandy coast overnight before getting into difficulty in UK waters. They called for help and were later picked up by two RNLI lifeboats, according to the French coastguard. The occupants of the boat were safely brought to shore in the maritime city where it is understood they will be processed as is routine for arrivals.But this led to the clashes last night in the port area of Portsmouth, which today have been condemned by a senior government minister. Treasury Chief Secretary Emma Reynolds said: "We do not want to see this kind of behaviour anywhere, frankly."‌Police clash with protesters as crowds block roadsVideos uploaded on social media showed groups of people being taken to shore on lifeboats and escorted to parked coaches. Crowds of an estimated 500 protestors gathered, and were led by Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo.In response to the protests in Dover and Portsmouth, Treasury Chief Secretary Emma Reynolds told LBC Radio: “This is thuggish and intimidating behaviour. This is not peaceful protest. Obviously, as a politician, I absolutely support people’s right to peaceful protest."But this crosses a line and I just want to take the opportunity to thank the police and other emergency services who have brought this under control. We do not want to see this kind of behaviour anywhere, frankly.”‌In a livestream filmed while standing in the sea at Eastney beach, Mr Thomas, an associate of ring-wing activist Tommy Robinson – said: “Roads are all blocked, they are never going to be able to leave here.”He added: “It was only yesterday (at the protests in Dover) when we warned them that we will not accept this any more, and that this is no longer an option to tell us that the boat numbers are down. This isn’t about the numbers being down… this is about understanding that this has to come to an end now.”‌At around 3am police issued a Section 14 order and the protestors dispersed from the dock after blocking roads for hours. Videos shared online show riot police armed with protective shields clashing with the protestors.Hampshire and Isle of Wight police and crime commissioner Donna Jones warned that places such as Portsmouth are "not set up" for the arrival of migrants. She told the BBC’s Today programme it will be a significant issue for the Government if people traffickers shift their destinations across England’s south coast.‌The police and crime commissioner said: “We have hundreds of miles of coastline across southern England and if Dover is no longer the destination of choice, and instead there is going to be a spread across southern England, this is a significant issue for the Government. My concern now, as a police and crime commissioner, is that we don’t have this repeated.”It is believed the migrants, including 20 women and eight very young children, spent 14 hours at sea travelling 70 miles. They were handed lifejackets amid the rescue operation. Their journey saw them leave an isolated Normandy beach near Jobourg, Normandy, on Sunday morning but the outboard motor on the 46ft (14m) boat failed around 14 miles off the French coast.‌It was then that five French vessels were despatched – the ‘Amiral de Tourville’ lifeboat, the ‘President Jules Pinteaux’ and ‘Philippe Keigger’ fast patrol boats, the ‘Jacques Armengaud’ resue boat, and the high-seas tug ‘Abeille Liberté’ [Liberty Bee]. With them, was a French Navy H-160 helicopter, and a Dragon 50 civil security chopper.The Abeille Liberté got closest to the stricken boat, and found "all on board packed closely together, and clearly in some distress," said a senior search and rescue source. They said: "There were twenty women and eight children among them, and they clearly caused the most concern.... Only a few migrants were wearing life jackets, so we handed out jackets to all of them. It seemed incomprehensible that they were risking their lives without life jackets."‌By 1.30pm on Sunday, the craft was 38 miles from France, and heading towards British water, where it finally joined by an RNLI boat from Yarmouth, on the Isle of Wight, and a British aircraft. A spokesman for the Maritime Prefecture for the English Channel and the North Sea said the escort operation had been essential "for safety reasons."He said: "The situation had to be monitored, in preparation for rescues if necessary. Those on board were determined to reach the UK. Given the structural fragility of these consistently overloaded vessels, the decision was made not to force migrants onto state rescue boats, so as to avoid endangering their lives in the event of a shipwreck."‌Portsmouth granddad hits out at protestersA grandfather said he had to deflate his own dinghy to stop protesters taking it amid the chaos. Barry John-Williams, 69, described the protesters as “idiots” and said some had offered him money to use his boat, a 2.7 metre-long dinghy.He said: “They (protesters) were offering to pay me money to take the boat and I said look it’s staying there, and that’s why I deflated it. What they were going to do with it I don’t know. One of the idiots, I heard him say they thought the migrants might have come in this boat."Mr John-Williams said the migrants were moored about 50 metres off shore in Portsmouth. He said: “It’s a big bit of water to come across. I don’t know how many boats there were, you know, migrant boats.”Mr John-Williams estimated three coaches were parked up waiting for the migrants, telling reporters: “So there must have been 100 plus (migrants). I did circle the boats and was videoing them, waving to them, but then the police told me to clear off – I said ‘I’m only greeting them'”.'Disorder of any kind will never be tolerated'In a statement to the Commons on the protests in Dover and Portsmouth, Policing minister Sarah Jones told MPs: "Peaceful protest is a fundamental part of our democracy and it must be defefnded. But so too is the right of other citizens to go about their lives without undue interference, and there can be no excuse for threatening behaviour or serious disruption.‌"Let me therefore make clear to the House and to the country that disorder of any kind will never be tolerated. And those who cross the line from peaceful protest into illegality will face the full force of the law. This government condemns the intimidating and thuggish behaviour shown by some of the protesters this weekend."She added that police in Kent and Hampshire have the Government's "full backing" in taking "any necessary step to uphold public safety and maintain the peace."‌Disruption follows unsavoury scenes in DoverThe protest came the day after a 'stop the boats' migrant protest at the Port of Dover on Saturday. However, motorists there told how they were left in fear as a mob of masked protesters stormed the cross channel port. Around 300 people, dressed head-to-toe in black, blocked a key road to the Dover crossing while chanting “stop the boats” and “whose streets? our streets”.Ferry passenger Toby Mackenzie was petrified when his car was surrounded. He wrote online: “Pretty much left me fearing for my life. Happy that I didn’t drive through them to protect myself. Generally fearing for my life.”‌'It's a completely unsuitable location'Leader of Portsmouth City Council Steve Pitt hit out at what he called “poor judgment” by the Home Office following anti-migration protests, and said Portsmouth was “a completely unsuitable location” to land lifeboats. He said: “The Government needs to take more action to prevent small boat crossings. Clearly people are not happy with the situation and we respect everyone’s right to protest but it should be done peacefully and within the law.“We are pleased the coaches were eventually able to leave Portsmouth early this morning to take people outside of Hampshire for processing in the normal way. The council wasn’t asked about the decision to land the lifeboats in Portsmouth. This was entirely a decision taken by UK Border Force, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Home Office.“It was a completely unsuitable location to bring the boats ashore, this entire situation was avoidable and has brought needless disruption to our city. I would like to thank the emergency services for their professionalism under very challenging circumstances.‌“However, the Home Office has some serious questions to answer about their lack of planning, inconsistent decision-making and ultimately, poor judgement. They put people at risk. This cannot happen again.”'We are restoring control at our border'Reacting to the developments in Portsmouth since, Conservative MP for MP for Isle of Wight East, Joe Robertson, posted: “Extremely concerning to see an illegal migrant crossing this far west. We don’t know if this migrant boat was headed for the Isle of Wight but I’ll be contacting the Home Office first thing. We need to know exactly what happened and if new routes are being used for mega-dinghies by people smugglers.”‌A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said: “In response to a report on September 6 of a small boat heading towards the Hampshire coast, HM Coastguard sent lifeboats, an HM Coastguard helicopter, an HM Coastguard aeroplane and HM Coastguard Rescue Teams. Border Force, Border Security Command, Hampshire Police and South Central Ambulance Service were also sent.”A Home Office spokesperson said: “This Government is bearing down on dangerous small boat crossings and restoring control at our border. Joint efforts have seen over 48,000 crossing attempts prevented and 1,100 boats and engines seized since the election. We are making progress, with the number of small boat crossings down this year and the lowest number recorded for the month of July since 2020.Article continues below“But we must go further, which is why we have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40% more boots on the ground on French beaches.”Amid the renewed debate over small boat crossings sparked by the protests in Dover and Portsmouth, a National Crime Agency spokesman said: “We are determined to do all we can to target, disrupt and dismantle these gangs, however we can, wherever they operate.“We know criminal networks will change their tactics as a response to law enforcement activity, but we are making it more difficult and costlier for organised crime groups to source equipment, more difficult to get it to the beaches, more difficult to communicate with potential customers, and generally more difficult for them to operate without coming into contact with law enforcement.“This work is having an impact and we are confident it has contributed to a reduction in crossings.”