Politicians Nigel Jenrick and Chris Reynolds condemned a spontaneous anti-illegal migrant protest in Dover that blocked the Port of Dover, disrupting traffic and ferry services. The protest involved dozens of people marching through the town and chanting slogans, with some wearing balaclavas. Kent Police described the demonstration as "spontaneous" but made no arrests, and demonstrators dispersed by midday. Nigel Jenrick stated that he understands why people are frustrated with the small boats issue, but condemned the disruption caused by the protest.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Hundreds of masked men blocked roads leading to the Port of Dover, Britain's busiest ferry port, on September 5, 2026, disrupting traffic and causing a 4-mile-long traffic jam. The protesters, who were dressed in black and wore balaclavas, chanted "stop the boats" as they blocked key roads and linked arms across routes leading to the port. The protest was described as "exceptionally well organised" by Dover District Council leader Kevin Mills, who criticized the police response for being slow.
The disruption caused delays of up to 45 minutes for passengers and cargo vehicles heading for France. P&O Ferries, which runs services between Dover and Calais in France, said its boats were running on schedule, and passengers who missed their ferry would be offered the next available crossing.
The Labour Party government condemned the protest, saying it went beyond peaceful protest. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC that while peaceful protest was an essential part of British life, the "intimidatory behaviour" witnessed in Dover was unacceptable.
The police response to the protest is also under scrutiny, with some politicians questioning whether intelligence was missed and if extra police officers could have been drafted in from the Metropolitan Police to help deal with the disorder. Former Home Office minister and Labour MP for Dover and Deal, Mike Tapp, said he would be asking these questions.
The protest has been linked to a group called Patriot Platform, which is believed to have been founded by Daniel Thomas, an associate of far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Written for “Dover Port Protest Disruption” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 17 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning score +0.85 for article 5404 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-09-06
Videos showed demonstrators marching through the town and chanting “Whose streets? Our streets” and “Stop the boats” as dozens of police officers followed.
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dozens → show → officers
Mr Reynolds told Sky News’s Sunday Morning programme that peaceful protest is not “dressing up in costumes” and “disrupting people’s lives”.
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protest → tell → lives
Asked what he made of the scenes in Dover, Mr Reynolds said: “I condemn it.
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I → ask → 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.
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that → mean → lives
“So I would condemn it, but I’d condemn the disruption it caused for local people as well.
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it → condemn → people
“But it was resolved, it was resolved.
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it → resolve → ?
But clearly, that’s not something we would want or expect to see on the (streets) of Britain.”
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we → ’ → 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.
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forces → decline → towns
“And these days, people can use modern communications in ways that do make things happen quickly.
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things → use → ways
“I think on the whole, the police handle it very well.
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police → think → it
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.
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he → condemn → migrants
Asked whether he condemned the demonstrations, Mr Jenrick said: “I absolutely do.
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I → ask → demonstrations
I’ve always hated people obstructing other people doing their daily life, whether it’s Just Stop Oil or whatever.
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it → hat → life
Read More
“And I don’t like people going around in balaclavas, which is obviously very intimidating.
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which → read → balaclavas
In fact, our party’s policy is to ban face coverings like that.
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policy → ban → that
“But do I understand why people are extremely frustrated?
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people → understand → ?
This needs to end.
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This → need → ?
This farce of the small boats has been going on for far too long.
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farce → go → boats
“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.
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which → see → all
, 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.”
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this → add → action
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.
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it → bring → Dover
Kent Police said no arrests were made during the protest, adding demonstrators had dispersed by midday.
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demonstrators → say → midday
