UK politics live: Police hunt far-right activists in Portsmouth after officers injured and cars damaged in protest

Zia Yusuf told Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, to ensure there was no violence from his group towards the police.

Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman said: “I just want to make that really clear, just so that we’re really clear about this, right? There is never any excuse for violence against police officers who are doing their job. They are taking orders, and that is what it is.”

Mr Thomas said there was no violence in Dover and when questioned about his group’s masks and attire being intimidating said: “The reason people felt potentially intimidated was because of the faces covered. I’ve made that point very clear.

“The only reason they’ve done that is because no one wants to be labelled far right.”

The founder of the group behind the anti-immigration protests at Dover on Saturday has interrupted an interview with Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf in Portsmouth.

Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo – an associate of ring-wing activist Tommy Robinson – spoke to the Reform UK home affairs spokesperson at length, following Mr Yusuf’s at-times heated interviews with news outlets.

The Patriot Platform group has been criticised for wearing masks and all-black clothing in Dover across the political spectrum, including by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

Mr Thomas, who founded Patriot Platform in July, dashed around the large crowd of reporters and said: “You have to understand, Yusuf, that what we’re trying to do and the reason the Patriot Platform has been created is not because of violence. We’re not looking to intimidate anyone.

“Let me start by first explaining to you why the men are wearing masks. As you know, and as Nigel knows, the left in this country target us massively. We have working-class men who are bricklayers, who are roofers, who are carpenters, who build the houses that you live in. They build the roads that you drive on. They do all of that stuff. The reason they’re covering their faces is because we know they’re going to be targeted.”

He added: “What Nigel Farage has done is not good. When you call people disgusting, yeah, you have to understand the reasons of why this is happening.”

The founder of a group of protesters who blocked roads in Dover on Saturday has told Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf his party leader Nigel Farage needs to be “careful with his words”.

Interrupting Mr Yusuf during an interview in Portsmouth following another protest on Sunday, Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, accused Mr Farage of calling protesters at the Unite the Kingdom rally in London earlier in the year “knuckle-draggers”.

Mr Thomas, who founded Patriot Platform in July, said: “You have to tell Nigel… we had a million people on the streets of London in every colour, every creed, every background, every ethnicity… he called us knuckle-draggers.

“I understand Nigel is going to be prime minister one day and I understand he has to set a standard, which will basically be that you know he can’t just come out and say everything’s great and these guys are fantastic, but Nigel needs to be very careful with his words.”

Mr Yusuf said he was at the scene to listen to people, and told Mr Thomas: “Nobody has done more to raise this issue, and taken a load of flack for it, than Nigel Farage.”

He added: “I will take that message, you have my word.”

A by-election in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency has been formally triggered after former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer resigned his seat.

The government’s chief whip Anneliese Midgley moved the writ.

She said: “I beg to move that Mr Speaker do issue his warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a new writ for the electing of a member to serve in this present Parliament for the borough constituency of Holborn and St Pancras in the room of right honour Sir Keir Rodney Starmer, who since his election for the said borough constituency has been appointed to the office of Steward and Bailiff of His Majesty’s three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham in the County of Buckingham.”

“Something is about to go down and it’s about to send a f***ing shockwave,” said Danny Tommo, real name Daniel Thomas, in a firm rallying call to dozens of white men assembled in a housing estate park.

As the tattooed 37-year-old –wearing a skin tight t-shirt – set out his vision for his anti-immigration movement called Patriot Platform, every soundbite was met with a cheer from the gathered audience.

The patriotic army, Mr Thomas explained, was a new venture for men concerned over the safety of women and children. It came, he conceded, after his and others’ decade-long work in flying flags and “walking down roads” had not fulfilled his ambition.

But who is Danny Thomas, the man behind the protests?

The Independent’s Alex Ross has this report:

A Portsmouth resident said the protest over migrant arrivals on Sunday night was “the closest I’ve ever been to an insurrection”.

Sue Dewey watched the Eastney scenes unfold from her balcony, and said: “It was a very surreal night, that was the closest I’ve ever been to an insurrection.”

The 68-year-old added: “I’m not a rebel, I’m not an agitator. I am very unhappy about the way things are unfolding, I think that it’s not great for this country – these people are illegal, they’re coming from a safe country, the French are enabling them, we’ve just given them a load more money to enable them even better.”

Ms Dewey told reporters: “They (the migrants) were held up for about 12 hours by the agitators. They didn’t let them go until about 4am.”

On Monday afternoon Ms Dewey was seen taking several life jackets which had been left on a gangway at Eastney.

She said: “They’re just sitting there, I mean the police have said somebody’s coming to collect them but they don’t belong to anybody.”

Ms Dewey said her neighbour took some life vests at about 7am on Monday which prompted her to think “we’ll get some for the (boating) club because the club’s been inconvenienced by this”, adding club staff had to stay on sofas there overnight because they could not leave the street.

Pat McFadden said job losses at Jaguar Land Rover were “deeply concerning” and the government would “do everything we can” to ensure the business remained committed to the UK.

The Work and Pensions Secretary told the Press Association: “I know Jaguar Land Rover well, I’m a West Midlands MP and I know how important this company is to the UK economy and more specifically to the West Midlands regional economy.

“What’s affecting them at the moment is global factors. There’s increased competition from China, there are increased trade barriers for cars, they were also subject to a major cyber attack which was damaging for the company last year.

“These are obviously very concerning job losses. There’s 4,000 people facing a very uncertain future.

“If you look at Volkswagen recently announcing major job losses, this is not a specifically UK situation with the automotive industry.

“We’ll do everything we can to work with the company. I believe they are fundamentally a strong company, they’ve got an exciting future.

“I regret that they’ve had to make this announcement but it’s really important that we have a strong Jaguar Land Rover deeply committed to the UK in the future and that’s what the government is going to try to work with the company to achieve.”

Kent Police said that the only crime committed during Saturday’s protest in Dover was criminal damage to the road.

In a statement Kent Police Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Brookes insisted the gathering by 200 people dressed in black and wearing face coverings was spontaneous.

He said: “We are of course disappointed with the significant traffic disruption for several hours on Saturday morning in Dover. 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.

“Saturday’s protest involving approximately 200 people developed rapidly and, based on the information available to us at the time, was treated in-line with national guidance as spontaneous.

“Officers attended, engaged directly with those involved, and worked to restore the free movement of traffic and access to the port. By midday those involved had dispersed, and normal traffic flows resumed, with traffic clearing fairly quickly. Extensive traffic management plans are in place given the frequency of disruption on the roads at the frontier.

“It is important we distinguish between conduct we find objectionable and disruptive and conduct which constitutes a criminal offence. The right to peaceful protest is an important part of our democracy and applies irrespective of the political views being expressed. Equally, that right is not unlimited, and if offences are committed, lawful police conditions are breached, or disruption crosses the legal threshold we will take action. Based on our current assessment, the only associated offence we are investigating is criminal damage to a road.

“There has been some discussion about the fact that protesters on Saturday wore face coverings. To do so is not, in itself, sufficient to establish a criminal offence. Police powers concerning face coverings have specific statutory requirements, and officers must satisfy those requirements before exercising them. There is no need to wear a face covering in Kent, if your plan is to peacefully express your views. 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.

“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.”

The country is “on the edge of serious civil disturbance” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said after protests broke out when migrants arrived in Portsmouth on Sunday.

But Mr Farage said there was a difference between the masked protesters in Dover and the “little old ladies in Portsmouth”.

In a video posted on X, he said: “Masked marches on the streets of Dover, and a huge, spontaneous protest on the streets of Portsmouth last night.

“You’d be right in thinking that this country is now on the edge of serious civil disturbance.

“Ever since 2020, when I first went into the Channel, up to the present day, I have warned that this would get out of control. I predicted an invasion, and boy, is it happening.

“(Previous governments) have failed us completely and utterly, and all they can do, all they can do overnight, is to attack little old ladies in Portsmouth who came out of their houses to say we don’t want this, we’re scared.”

He added: “But let me please say this: people wearing masks, dressed up in a similar type uniform to a paramilitary, is not going to solve this problem.

“There is a marked difference between what happened in Dover and what happened last night in Portsmouth, the only way we’re going to solve this is through the ballot box.

“This is a serious situation, it’s about to get significantly worse.

“The government needs to act, I suspect it won’t. But remember, peaceful protests good, uniforms and masks bad.”