Hampshire police say they are “conducting enquiries” after anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, live-streamed a video that appeared to show him slashing an inflatable dinghy in the Channel while a rescue worker was on board.
They also said they had made six arrests for offences including assaulting an emergency worker, in relation to a separate anti-migrant protest in Gosport.
And French authorities have issued a warning to “all sea users” that they are obliged by international law to provide assistance if lives are at risk, and interfering in a rescue “may result in prosecution”.
What has happened?
The French coastguard were monitoring a small boat near Caen, carrying about 60 people attempting to cross the English Channel to the UK, in a dangerous route across the western side of the English Channel, travelling from a narrow beach in Normandy towards Portsmouth’s coast
By Tuesday afternoon they judged that the vessel was “ill-suited for such a crossing and whose occupants were weakened after more than 33 hours at sea in precarious conditions”. They added: “this operation is also carried out within the known and delicate context of the migrants’ refusal of assistance, as they are determined to take all risks to reach the United Kingdom”.
The RNLI launched to intercept the dinghy, on a request from the British coastguard, as Border Force vessels were not immediately available to assist, they said in a statement. A Border Security cutter was then launched, but the RNLI were asked to remove the people from the dinghy before that cutter arrived “out of concern for their safety and their deteriorating health. At this point they had been at sea for over 36 hours”.
It added “when tasked by HM Coastguard we will rescue anyone in trouble at sea, as we have been doing for more than 200 years, without judgement or preference”.
The asylum seekers were then transferred to the Border Force vessel.
In a letter to Dame Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport, on Tuesday, the Home Office said it had become aware of a vessel which had departed from typical small boat routes and was heading towards the Portsmouth area.
Under international laws, including the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), people rescued at sea must be brought to a place of safety as soon as possible, meaning authorities planned to bring the vessel ashore in Gosport.
However, on Tuesday evening Dame Dinenage shared in a post on her Facebook page that the Border Force was taking the boat to Dover by water.
“This is a good result,” she said, “all day I have been making the case to the Home Office that this boat should not disembark in Gosport.”
Why not Gosport?
It’s the second journey across this new route in as many weeks, after the arrival of 140 migrants earlier in September sparked large-scale unrest as a vigilante protest erupted near Portsmouth’s Eastney marina. Around 200 protestors, many wearing balaclavas and throwing stones and bricks, attempted to block coaches transporting asylum seekers to a processing site in Dover.
Gosport’s position as a peninsula with limited access makes unrest more risky, increasing the likelihood that protestors could block vehicles carrying the migrants out of Hampshire and towards a processing facility in Kent.
Donna Jones, the police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said she had written to the Home Office to urge them to transport migrants to Dover rather than using Hampshire as a landing site.
“Hampshire is not prepared or set up to process people travelling into Britain this way, and the burden on the police to deal with the arrival and potential protest activity is unsustainable,” she said.
“I am deeply concerned the Government has not been in contact with me about its plans to land crossings in Hampshire, whilst expecting me to pay for the policing response on behalf of the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
“This is no way to run an operation like this.”
On-shore protests
When it appeared the boat was due to land near Gosport, far-right figures tracked the boat on social media.
Hampshire Reform UK councillor George Madgwick, shared images on X of “a mini army” blockading roads, claiming “over 1000 local people” had turned up.
A person is led away by police during a protest in Gosport, Hampshire (Photo: Trevor Adams/PA Wire)Prior to the vessel being diverted, police closed off access to Haslar Marina in Gosport and stationed officers around the marina. PA reported a crowd had gathered of around 30 people. Not long after the vessel was diverted, a line of black-clad protesters left the Gosport marina, with a number of others following them.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said in a statement on Tuesday night: “Following news that the vessel would be docking elsewhere in the country, police were met with a group of people who remained in Gosport, some of whom became hostile towards officers.
“As a result, six people were arrested for offences including careless driving, assaulting an emergency worker and aggravated trespass. They remain in custody at this time and our enquiries into these incidents continue.”
Police said they were “also aware of a video circulating online relating to damage being caused to a boat in the English Channel on the afternoon of 22 September, and we are conducting enquiries into the matter”.
Trouble in the Channel
Anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, livestreamed on Tuesday on YouTube from a speedboat in the Channel.
His speedboat approached the RNLI lifeboats as they perform the rescue, and he could be heard saying “we’re going to take the one with the most on, migrants on it… no violence, nothing like that. We just want to know where this is going. We think it’s Gosport.”
After the dinghy was emptied it drifted away from the RNLI boat and Thomas said “go next to that, let’s get rid of that boat, forget the migrants… get there before they do”.
As he approached the dinghy a rescue worker in a helmet and hi-vis jumpsuit stepped onto it. Thomas shouted “this is England this is not France any more” and appeared to stab the side of the dinghy with a small knife, then said “right, get off, get off the boat” to the man on it, as another rescue boat came alongside.
Thomas then sped away shouting “now try and take that back to France”.
A scene from a livestream on YouTube by anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas (Source: YouTube)While not specifically referencing Thomas by name, the French coastguard issued a statement afterwards that “reminds all seafarers and shipmasters of the duty to render assistance under international law.
“Failure to comply with these obligations, or any interference with ongoing rescue operations, may be subject to legal proceedings,” the statement said.
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