Politicians condemn anti-illegal migrant protests which blocked Port of Dover

Politicians have condemned anti-illegal migrant protests which blocked the Port of Dover on Saturday.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick criticised the demonstrations in which hundreds of masked, black-clad men blocked road access to the Kent port.

Videos showed demonstrators marching through the town and chanting “Whose streets? Our streets” and “Stop the boats” as dozens of police officers followed.

Mr Reynolds told Sky News’s Sunday Morning programme that peaceful protest is not “dressing up in costumes” and “disrupting people’s lives”.

Asked what he made of the scenes in Dover, Mr Reynolds said: “I condemn it. I mean, peaceful protest – essential part of British life, but that’s not dressing up in costumes like this and disrupting people’s lives.

“So I would condemn it, but I’d condemn the disruption it caused for local people as well.

“But it was resolved, it was resolved. But clearly, that’s not something we would want or expect to see on the (streets) of Britain.”

He declined to comment “on the security and policing side of it” when pressed on the apparent unpreparedness of Kent Police, who described the protest as “spontaneous” in a statement on X.

Mr Reynolds said: “I do think our police forces deal with a great deal across British towns and cities.

“And these days, people can use modern communications in ways that do make things happen quickly.

“I think on the whole, the police handle it very well. But look, peaceful protest, yes. Those kinds of scenes, absolutely not.”

On the same programme, Nigel Farage’s party’s economic spokesman also condemned the disruption, while saying he understood the frustration with small boats crossing the Channel carrying migrants.

Asked whether he condemned the demonstrations, Mr Jenrick said: “I absolutely do. I’ve always hated people obstructing other people doing their daily life, whether it’s Just Stop Oil or whatever.

“And I don’t like people going around in balaclavas, which is obviously very intimidating. In fact, our party’s policy is to ban face coverings like that.

“But do I understand why people are extremely frustrated? Yes, absolutely. This needs to end. This farce of the small boats has been going on for far too long.

“And in fact you saw at our conference Nigel Farage and (National Rally president) Jordan Bardella, the likely next prime minister of France, signing an agreement which has the prospect of ending this once and for all.”

But, he added of the Dover demonstrators, “you do not go about it in this way, and the police should take whatever action they can to stop this happening again.”

The demonstrations brought traffic on roads leading to UK’s busiest international ferry and passenger port to a halt, delaying some ferry services and blocking major roads.

A Government spokesperson said on Saturday that it condemned the behaviour in Dover and the travel disruption it caused.

Kent Police said no arrests were made during the protest, adding demonstrators had dispersed by midday.