Masked protesters block Port of Dover

They have the right to protest, GG13, but if the Police have the right to ask them to move?
Did that happen?
If the Police have the right to ask them to remove their face covering?
Did that happen?

Basgetti

Vintagewhine

There's a huge difference between Muslim women choosing to cover their faces whilst shopping or taking their children to school and men wearing balaclavas to cover their faces whilst they march along shouting " whose streets, our streets". I'm for peaceful demos and expect those attending to stay within the law regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum. However, to pretend these thugs are peace loving citizens is frankly ridiculous.

I certainly don’t want to share public streets with those people.

Non of us know who we are sharing the streets with
The really dangerous ones don’t advertise themselves.

MartavTaurus

So where was the intelligence this time? We seem to be losing our grip on gathering information of upcoming protests with a view to containing them. If this sort of protest disrupts a town like Dover and the ferry port, the same could happen if they disrupted flights at Heathrow or trains at Eurostar next time. Policing needs to acquire this information in advance.

policing needs to acquire this evidence in advance
And if we had enough of those police we just might.
It is estimated by our security services that for every one person they are interested in, that person has 30 contacts to have to be monitored.
At this present time our security services are very very concerned with Russia/ China/ Iran and every other scroat who wants to cause us harm.
They do not have the resources to monitor a group who so far have not broken the law.

Vintagewhine

There's a huge difference between Muslim women choosing to cover their faces whilst shopping or taking their children to school and men wearing balaclavas to cover their faces whilst they march along shouting " whose streets, our streets". I'm for peaceful demos and expect those attending to stay within the law regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum. However, to pretend these thugs are peace loving citizens is frankly ridiculous.

I certainly don’t want to share public streets with those people.

It sounds just like the "Patriot" groups who took part in the Jan 6th insurrection in the US in 2021 but currently without the violence. I just wonder how long they will last without the violence and how many of them go to church?

OldFrill

Very much a trial run, more to come. The organisers wanted it to be disciplined and non violent. He's apparently recruiting a national Christian army (including women). This is from his website and an interview available online with Dan Wooton.

Haven’t looked at their website.

I can see why a National Christian Army would appeal to some.

I guess it is linked to the thousands of young male asylum seekers who arrive by large boats. Social media platforms are awash with accusations of the U.K. government letting in a foreign army in disguise as asylum seekers.

Along with Iran dropping hints that sleeper agents are accessing the U.K. by this method.

There is fear of the unknown, not sure what the answer is 🤷‍♀️

Does education pay a part, or is this fear and animosity learnt at home…

If we ban these marches/protest will that not increase their following and give their cause legitimacy by default?

Christian?
Has he heard of the parable of The Good Samaritan?

Very much a trial run, more to come. The organisers wanted it to be disciplined and non violent. He's apparently recruiting a national Christian army (including women). This is from his website and an interview available online with Dan Wooton.

Maremia

The point they made is that they were not removed by the police, or arrested, or handcuffed, or carried away to a cell.
Was this a 'protest' or some sort of a testing the waters, trial run?
I think we may find out.

Why should they have been arrested, handcuffed or carried away to a cell ?

We have the right to peaceful protest in the U.K.

The point they made is that they were not removed by the police, or arrested, or handcuffed, or carried away to a cell.
Was this a 'protest' or some sort of a testing the waters, trial run?
I think we may find out.

Daniel Thomas (Danny Tommo), Hope not Hate, claimed responsibility for organising this protest. More to follow he says. Easy enough to research him online.

& yet no one mentions the Palestinian marches, how noisy they were, or that they held up traffic (I missed an urgent hospital appointment as I couldn’t get through them). Or the just stop oil brigade 🙄

From what bits I saw it was a peaceful march straight through the police.
I didn’t see any violence. Some locals clapped & cheered.
On the whole, made a point, left to go home.

I know this is a bit of whataboutism, but this BBC report from 2021

Port of Dover: Arrests made as Insulate Britain blocks port

Thirty nine people have been arrested after climate activists blocked Dover port, causing queues of vehicles attempting to cross the Channel.

Insulate Britain, which has brought chaos on the M25 five times in the past fortnight, said more than 40 people had gathered.

The Kent port - Europe's busiest ferry terminal - said passengers should take extra time for their journeys.

The main protest began at 08:20 BST and was cleared by police two hours later.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-58676610?app-referrer=deep-link

Yesterdays' demonstrators cause 4 mile queues on the approach roads, why no arrests?

Oddly, the BBC article from yesterday which reported this on the demo is not available...

There are lots of questions to be asked.

And why hasn't the government condemned the action? Richard Tice (of all people!) has. Are they asleep?

MauravTaurus this is something I have been banging on about for years (on here and in real life)

Our security services have to be accurate and on the ball at all times, whereas a terrorist/protest only has to get through the system once to cause chaos, injury or like yesterday an atmosphere of uncertainty.

Jaxjacky I agree that there was something unnerving about their control and quietness. Could it be that they have learnt that violent and disorderly protests get them nowhere?

So where was the intelligence this time? We seem to be losing our grip on gathering information of upcoming protests with a view to containing them. If this sort of protest disrupts a town like Dover and the ferry port, the same could happen if they disrupted flights at Heathrow or trains at Eurostar next time. Policing needs to acquire this information in advance.

I found the whole episode disturbing, as you say Maizie the almost silent discipline and control - this frightens me more than a noisy rabble.

Apparently the Patriot Platform is the latest attempt by Danny Thomson to bring together a number of different "patriot" groups but isn't showing much success, for which I think we should be grateful. Thanet Patriots have declined the offer to join forces. Below is some words spoken by a member of the Thanet Patriot, Adrian Clark, a Ramsgate scaffolder with convictions for ABH, common assault and assaulting a police officer. In confessional mode, Clark admitted that he might seem an unlikely defender of “our women”: “I’ve done bad shit in my past which I’m not proud of … We’ve all done stupid shit.
But then when these other people want to sit out there and be like, ‘Oh, you’re a domestic abuser’ – what? Do you think these people on the boats got a better criminal record than me? He admitted that his turn to activism has “been very hard and very consuming – especially when I ain’t the most mentally stable person.”
Lovely people, these "patriots" salt of the earth and possibly coming to a town near you wearing black and covering their faces with masks.

The people protesting in the streets of Dover bore very little resemblance to Mosely's Blacks shirts, who wore a tailored black paramilitary uniform modelled on Mussolini's fascists, apart to those determined to find a link.

Good Lord, eazybee, if the fact that the 'uniforms' weren't 'tailored' gives you comfort do feel free to hang on to your illusions.

Yes i posted the guidance to the sct upthread.
I think the police were caught off guard, it was clearly organised. I have no doubt there will be more.

The people protesting in the streets of Dover bore very little resemblance to Mosely's Blacks shirts, who wore a tailored black paramilitary uniform modelled on Mussolini's fascists, apart to those determined to find a link.

Their protest appeared to be peaceful,but not altogether sure what their purpose was; there were no banners or flags apparent, and they obeyed police instructions without trouble.

Face coverings can be intimidating to all people because they conceal identity and facial expression and should be banned; there is no legitimate reason for anyone to go about in this country with their face obscured.

Galaxy

I mean I have to desperately cling on to principles here because it would mean women could meet without the gender mob but got to look at the wider picture! I actually thought there was some legislation introduced about face coverings and protest but I may be wrong.

From AI (who can be as much your friend as google when it comes to factual information)

The Crime and Policing Act 2026, sections 157–159, creates a new offence of deliberately concealing identity in a specially designated area during a protest. These provisions came into force on 29 June 2026.

Under section 158 of the Act the police can designate an area for a specified amount of time if:

...they reasonably believe:

a protest is taking place or may take place;
offences are likely to be or have been committed at the protest;
and
designation is expedient to prevent or limit those offences.

If an area is designated section 157 applies:

Within that designated area it is now itself a criminal offence to wear or otherwise use something that conceals your identity.

According to the reports, they blocked the A20 and other roads, stopped traffic entering and leaving the port, and linked arms across the road. The Port of Dover called it an ongoing "public order incident".

That potentially provides the sort of criminal conduct which could justify a police designation under the new Act.

There is no evidence that Kent police formally issued a section 158 designation. In which case, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 wouldn't apply.

What is very strange is that the Kent police said that the demonstration was 'spontaneous'. I think most people would question the spontaneity of several hundred more or less identically clothed people (clothing designed to evade identification of individuals) arriving in the same area at much the same time and with the same 'grievance'...

The fact that they were moved on without incident is very curious. Past 'demonstrations' inspired or organised by Tommy Robinson have generally featured excessive consumption of alcohol and tunning battles with the police. That this one apparently didn't could indicate the exercise of military style discipline requiring a high degree of organisation and control.

Personally I find the whole incident to be far more scaring than any other publicised demonstrations of any kind. Far more scaring than the groups of bored asylum seekers hanging around local streets which people complain about.

Maremia

And the right of the Police to ask them to move on?
Remove their face coverings ?

Of course.

www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crime-and-policing-act-2026-factsheets/crime-and-policing-act-2026-public-order-offences-factsheet&ved=2ahUKEwiH38n3zNmWAxV8REEAHVhTA_kQFnoECCMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw29CioJke2U_N873qsrb5bw