Government slams ‘thuggish’ anti-migrant protestors in Portsmouth

“We condemn the intimidating and thuggish behaviour."

On Sunday night, hundreds of people blocked roads for hours and faced off against police in Portsmouth.

This was after 140 migrants picked up by lifeboats had been taken to the city instead of Dover.

The protests were the second anti-migrant demonstration of the weekend after similar scenes took place in Dover on Saturday night.

The protestors said they wanted to stop authorities from transporting the migrants to the Manston processing centre in Kent.

Footage from Sunday night shows protestors blocking a road and facing off against a line of police officers with riot shields.

On Monday morning, the government hit out at the actions of the protestors.

A government spokesperson said: “We condemn the intimidating and thuggish behaviour we are seeing tonight.

“The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder.

“We thank the emergency services who are working to safely manage this situation,” they added.

This was echoed by government minister Emma Reynolds during an appearance on BBC Breakfast on Monday.