Masked protesters block Port of Dover

If stopping the boats could be achieved easily, I wonder why previous and current governments haven’t just cracked on and done it?
It’s a complex problem, we aren’t the only European country struggling to prevent thousands of people attempting to claim asylum. The Middle East, Africa so war torn and unstable some of these individuals will be genuine asylum seekers.

Details are emerging about many patriot protesters. No surprise criminal backgrounds figure

nanna8 FYI - Daniel Thomas, a far right agitator, claimed to have arranged the protest.

Danny Tomorrow has convictions, including for a drug deal related conviction for kidnap. He claims to have changed his ways after becoming a Christian in prison

Iam64

Danny Tomorrow has convictions, including for a drug deal related conviction for kidnap. He claims to have changed his ways after becoming a Christian in prison

Well I suppose we (collective) are always advocating for rehabilitation in our prisons, so are we selective in second guessing who has/could benefit from this?

Personally I am not sure 🤷‍♀️

Nigel Farage has called for the banning of all face coverings including those for religious purposes.

One of the things his government will make a priority…

tbh I'd make an exception for Farage, I'd quite like him to cover his face. Seriously, I'd be unhappy to see changes made to what can be worn as part of a cultural, safety or religious norm but not as part of a deliberate attempt to avoid recognition and balaclavas at protests would clearly come into that category.

Oreo

I think those posters who live in lovely parts of the country where life goes on as normal and they don’t see any of this stuff will never understand what the rest of society who live with it feel.

I live in a very lovely part of the country, where we have two large asylum seeker hotels, very close to our railway station. I’ve never been bothered by anyone or seen anyone else being bothered.
In relatively recent protests against asylum seekers, “protestors” were trained in by and large, one contingent from Essex, around 500 miles away.
The largest contingent of locals were there to protest against these trouble makers and outnumbered them.
The people I am approached by most frequently are young women from Eastern Europe, asking for money outside of Morrisons and Home Bargains.

I would fully support a ban on full-face coverings in public.

Countries like France, Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, and Switzerland already enforce strict bans in public spaces, and Portugal has moved that way too. Others, including Germany, Norway, Italy, and Spain, have partial or regional bans.

Covering faces is not a part of western culture. For a fully integrated society, we should all live by the same common rules.

I agree. Absolutely no reason to hide faces.

Kandinsky

I don’t think some people on here understand what
‘Stop the boats’ actually means?
It means stop them completely. Or as near completely as possible.
It doesn’t mean a slight reduction on previous years figures.

Everyone who speaks English can understand what stop the boat means. However there are those that think it's impossible to stop people seeking asylum as they have a legal right to do so. Those that believe that boats can be stopped entirely have not explained how they would stop the legal entitlement of asylum seekers however.

There has been nearly a 50% reduction in the last 12 months- that does not fit your definition of 'slight'

'Stop them as near completely as possible'? What reduction does that entail, over what time period and how would that be achieved thats not already being tried?

No party has ever come up with a workable plan to 'stop the boats completely' All parties have their own strategies to stop them as completely as possible- the current government the most successful to date since they began post Brexit.

The nearly 50% drop is true for recent months compared to last summer, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Crossings actually rose by 13% between 2024 and 2025 (from ~36.5k to ~41.5k). While numbers are down right now, a big chunk of that is due to unusually poor weather in the Channel and short-term policing shifts, rather than a permanent fix

The Conservatism's were in power until July 2024. The Labour Government was only able to put in place its alternative plans after coming to power. Now the data shows the L government is making reasonably good progress re AS crossings, excellent progress in reducing the timescale for processing applications and have increased deportations also.

Migration Observatory: "Weather conditions in the channel are unlikely to have had a significant impact. While conditions can influence the timing of crossings in the short term as people wait for an appropriate day to travel, they have less of an impact on arrivals over a longer period of time" Thus the increasing nearly 50% reduction this year following last year's reception did not occur as a result of weather conditions- well at least according to the Migration Observatory.

What is a 'permanent fix'. Over what timescale? how can that realistically be achieved? Why has no other country in the entire world ever achieved a 'percent fix' to stop asylum seekers travelling to their country do you think?

Basgetti

Oreo

I think those posters who live in lovely parts of the country where life goes on as normal and they don’t see any of this stuff will never understand what the rest of society who live with it feel.

I live in a very lovely part of the country, where we have two large asylum seeker hotels, very close to our railway station. I’ve never been bothered by anyone or seen anyone else being bothered.
In relatively recent protests against asylum seekers, “protestors” were trained in by and large, one contingent from Essex, around 500 miles away.
The largest contingent of locals were there to protest against these trouble makers and outnumbered them.
The people I am approached by most frequently are young women from Eastern Europe, asking for money outside of Morrisons and Home Bargains.

I wasn’t talking of asylum hotels but vape shops, nail bars, so called turkish barbers and other many dodgy shops owned and run by former ‘asylum seekers’ in many cases it has been proved to be window dressing for money laundering gangs.
A blight on our High Streets.
If there are young males roaming about aimlessly from asylum hotels then that’s an added worry for teenage girls and young women.That won’t be the case everywhere but there are enough cases to prove it’s a problem in some areas.

Being importuned by the many Eastern European women begging on our streets is another blight we shouldn’t have to out up with.
In a very pretty town in the South East last Summer they were on the two main streets shouting they were pregnant and homeless.Yeah, right! They looked healthy and very un pregnant.

Put up, not out up.

sundowngirl

The nearly 50% drop is true for recent months compared to last summer, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Crossings actually rose by 13% between 2024 and 2025 (from ~36.5k to ~41.5k). While numbers are down right now, a big chunk of that is due to unusually poor weather in the Channel and short-term policing shifts, rather than a permanent fix

You haven’t given an accurate account sundowngirl.

Summer small boat crossings have fallen to their lowest level in seven years.

June, July and August recorded the lowest combined total for crossings since 2019, with August crossings down 46% on last year, July down 64% and June down 50%, according to the Home Office.

Your comment about there being exceptionally poor weather in the channel over the summer months is also misleading. The seas were calm, there were no disruptions to ferry travel for example, high ambient temperatures that affected passengers, not vessels crossing the water.

Casdon

sundowngirl

The nearly 50% drop is true for recent months compared to last summer, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Crossings actually rose by 13% between 2024 and 2025 (from ~36.5k to ~41.5k). While numbers are down right now, a big chunk of that is due to unusually poor weather in the Channel and short-term policing shifts, rather than a permanent fix

You haven’t given an accurate account sundowngirl.

Summer small boat crossings have fallen to their lowest level in seven years.

June, July and August recorded the lowest combined total for crossings since 2019, with August crossings down 46% on last year, July down 64% and June down 50%, according to the Home Office.

Your comment about there being exceptionally poor weather in the channel over the summer months is also misleading. The seas were calm, there were no disruptions to ferry travel for example, high ambient temperatures that affected passengers, not vessels crossing the water.

My previous post was a quote was taken from AI.

Another states:-
There were periods of exceptionally high winds and stormy weather in the English Channel earlier in 2026, which heavily disrupted boat activity during the first half of the year

Earlier in the year wasn’t the summer months though, which was what you referred to?

RNLI people are being verbally abused by these protesters . These are people who risk their lives to save others..

Casdon

Earlier in the year wasn’t the summer months though, which was what you referred to?

I said - although the drop may be true for the summer months it doesn't give the whole story. Are you trying to be pedantic?

sundowngirl

Casdon

sundowngirl

The nearly 50% drop is true for recent months compared to last summer, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Crossings actually rose by 13% between 2024 and 2025 (from ~36.5k to ~41.5k). While numbers are down right now, a big chunk of that is due to unusually poor weather in the Channel and short-term policing shifts, rather than a permanent fix

You haven’t given an accurate account sundowngirl.

Summer small boat crossings have fallen to their lowest level in seven years.

June, July and August recorded the lowest combined total for crossings since 2019, with August crossings down 46% on last year, July down 64% and June down 50%, according to the Home Office.

Your comment about there being exceptionally poor weather in the channel over the summer months is also misleading. The seas were calm, there were no disruptions to ferry travel for example, high ambient temperatures that affected passengers, not vessels crossing the water.

My previous post was a quote was taken from AI.

Another states:-
There were periods of exceptionally high winds and stormy weather in the English Channel earlier in 2026, which heavily disrupted boat activity during the first half of the year

sundowngirl- weather in the first six months of any year disrupts boat activity in the Channel. Disrupting does not stopp the boats it alters timings of planned crossings. The UK Migration Observatory studies all these issues and is a source of reliable migration information, it states poor weather disrupts timetables of planned crossings- but the smugglers wait for the winds to calm and then still come as planned- so this is not a significant factor.

Total figures January 2025 to June 2025- 19,982 people crossed
Total figures January 2026 to June 2026- 11,884 people crossed

Your quote "Crossings actually rose by 13% between 2024 and 2025 (from ~36.5k to ~41.5k)" presumably relates to a rise from the previous year January 2023 to end of 2024?. As you may recall the Conservative party was in government then so that rise in crossings under Conservative watch. The Labour Party came to power in July 2024, so began to put their plans in place after the summer recess in Autumn 2024.

Data from Autumn 2024 compared to previous years of Conservative Party data assists if youre seeking comparisons. If you do you will find, as Casdon outlines, under the Labour government Summer small boat crossings have fallen to their lowest level in seven years and that's in aa period of favourable weather conditions. Quite a successful achievement.

Yes greyfur like the Palestinian marches every weekend. Just became the norm.

Oreo

Put up, not out up.

I know what you mean. We have them too. Dropped off on the outskirts of town in nice cars.
I give them nowt.

MT62

Yes greyfur like the Palestinian marches every weekend. Just became the norm.

Not entirely sue what a Palestinian marcher is.

‘Danny Tommo’ has put a shout out for fellow Patriots to convene in Portsmouth this coming Saturday.
I fully support the right to protest, but this has me worried after the recent incident at Langstone Harbour where police were injured and their vehicles damaged.