British police clash with anti-migrant protesters in Portsmouth

POLICE clashed with anti-migrant protesters in the English coastal city of Portsmouth on Sunday night (September 6), as hundreds gathered to try to stop the arrival of migrants who had crossed from France.

The demonstration was the second anti-migrant protest in two days, following one at the port of Dover on Saturday (September 5), where masked men disrupted traffic and chanted "Stop the boats".

The Portsmouth protesters had responded to calls from some far-right groups and were reacting to the arrival of 140 migrants who had crossed to England, the BBC reported.

Footage from the area showed officers moving in line and pushing protesters back with shields, urging crowds to move away from an area.

On Monday (September 7), British Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds told Sky News the behaviour was "thuggish and intimidating". She said the scale of the protest was something not seen before, but that police had brought it under control. She added that the speed at which the demonstrations had been organised was a concern.

Successive British governments have struggled to curb the flow of asylum seekers, often coming in overcrowded, inflatable boats, although Reynolds said the number of arrivals was 43% down on last year to about 17,000.

Yet the number of asylum seekers arriving on each boat has been increasing as people smugglers change their tactics.

The arrival of a small boats in Portsmouth represents a change from the usual route taken by the dinghies, which tend to come ashore near Dover.