A small number of officers were injured and some vehicles damaged during a protest against small boat crossings in Portsmouth last night, police say
Hundreds blocked roads in the city after about 120 migrants were brought to shore
There was a similar protest in Dover on Saturday - policing minister Sarah Jones is expected to make a statement about both in Parliament soon. You can watch live at the top of the page
The government has condemned "intimidating and thuggish behaviour" at the protest in Portsmouth
On the protest in Dover, Reform UK's Nigel Farage says: "Peaceful protest: good. Uniforms and masks: bad"
Daniel Sandford looks at the connections between the two protests
One protester in Portsmouth tells the BBC people are "absolutely fed up" with small boat arrivals, but one local says some protesters' views made her "genuinely unsettled"
A total of 625 migrants were brought to shore in Dover and Portsmouth yesterday, according to Home Office figures - although overall, the number is down in 2026
Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today
There were about 120 people on board the dinghy that headed towards Portsmouth this weekend, the BBC understands.
Information from the French authorities had previously indicated there were about 140 people on board.
We're expecting policing minister Sarah Jones to speak in Parliament soon about the weekend's protests in Dover and Portsmouth.
She'll also take questions from MPs on the events, and you'll be able to watch live at the top of the page when proceedings begin shortly.
We'll bring regular text updates of the key moments here too.
Image source, Getty ImagesRachel Millward, the deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, has condemned the anti-small boats protests seen over the weekend.
Speaking to BBC Two's Politics Live, she said: "These are not British values and not something we want to see."
She said the "crisis of small boats" needs to be sorted out by "providing legal, safe, managed routes for people who are fleeing genocide, war, persecution".
"It is horrifying for me that the first experience they might have on British shores is such an aggressive one," she added.
By Barbara Metzler
BBC Verify has been using ship-tracking websites to monitor activity in the English Channel at the time the migrant boat made its crossing on 6 September.
We can’t track the boat but we have been monitoring the rescue vessels which the French authorities say were involved in monitoring it.
At around 03:00 BST on Sunday morning we can see four French vessels meeting up in the Baie de la Seine - where the boat had been sighted - and moving north into the English Channel towards UK waters.
Around 06:40 their paths split and two vessels - Amiral de Tourville and Abeille Liberté - continue moving north together.
Then, close to 12:25, the two French rescue vessels enter the area of the Channel where UK authorities have responsibility for conducting search and rescue operations.
On the UK side, two RNLI lifeboats were dispatched from the Isle of Wight - from Bembridge at 10:11 and Yarmouth shortly afterwards.
At around 12:34 all four vessels come into close vicinity about halfway across the Channel, with the Yarmouth lifeboat and Amiral de Tourville coming particularly close.
At 13:00 both RNLI lifeboats head towards the UK and arrive at 17:11 in the Langstone Channel near Portsmouth.
Image source, ReutersA Home Office vehicle was left with a smashed windscreen after Sunday's protests
Portsmouth City Council leader Steve Pitt says coaches of migrants were eventually able to leave the city early on Monday morning for processing after Sunday's protests.
The Liberal Democrat also criticises the decision to allow people to be escorted into Portsmouth in the first place.
"The council wasn’t asked about the decision to land the lifeboats in Portsmouth. This was entirely a decision taken by UK Border Force, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Home Office," he says.
“It was a completely unsuitable location to bring the boats ashore, this entire situation was avoidable and has brought needless disruption to our city."
As a result, he says the Home Office has "serious questions to answer" over a "lack of planning, inconsistent decision-making and ultimately, poor judgement".
"They put people at risk. This cannot happen again," he says.
The BBC has contacted the Home Office for comment.
Image source, ReutersAs coastguard boats carrying migrants arrived in Portsmouth on Sunday night, protesters gathered firstly to attempt stop them landing, then to prevent buses carrying migrants from leaving for processing centres.
Here's how events have unfolded since:
Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today
The Home Office has just released the latest figures on small-boat crossings: 625 people were brought to shore at Dover and - unusually - Portsmouth yesterday.
They made the journey in eight boats.
We know there have been further arrivals today - with around 140 people on two boats getting to Dover in the early hours before the weather changed and became much windier.
Today's numbers won't officially be confirmed until tomorrow by the government.
More than 17,000 people have reached the UK on small boats so far this year. It's a significant number, but down considerably on the same period last year.
Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today
625 migrants on eight boats were brought to shore at Dover and Portsmouth yesterday, according to Home Office figures.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says the country is on the edge of "serious civil disturbance", and that governments have "failed us completely and utterly".
In a video shared on X, he says "people wearing masks, dressed up in a similar type uniform to a paramilitary is not going to solve this problem," and adds that there is a "marked difference" between events in Portsmouth last night, and scenes in Dover on Saturday.
He finishes: "Peaceful protest: good. Uniforms and masks: bad. Voting is the only way we get a solution."
By Aidan McNamee
Small boats crossing the Channel carried an average of 77 people last month, the highest figure on record.
Despite dipping toward the end of last year, the number of people per boat has generally risen year-on-year, with the average having more than doubled in the past five years.
Last month, a record 230 people arrived in the UK on a single boat. As British and French authorities have stepped up efforts to prevent crossings, people smugglers have increasingly turned to larger vessels known as "mega-dinghies" which can carry far more passengers than traditional inflatables.
For the latest data on Channel crossings and migration to the UK, visit BBC Verify’s migration tracker.
Image source, ReutersWhile "nothing excuses either violent or disruptive protest", the scenes in Portsmouth overnight show that "people are genuinely angry at the government's failure to stop the boats", according to the shadow home secretary.
Speaking to broadcasters in Westminster, Chris Philp says arrivals into the UK are now on "mega-dinghies with one or two hundred illegal immigrants entering our country with the French doing nothing to stop it".
"Our government is failing," says Philp, who adds that a "radically different approach is needed".
"Leave the European Convention on Human Rights so small boat migrants could be immediately deported on arrival and the crossings would pretty quickly stop," he says.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary says an investigation is ongoing to "identify offenders responsible for any assaults to officers, criminal damage to vehicles or other criminal offences" following last night's protests in Portsmouth.
A number of police, Coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged during the protest and a small number of officers were treated at the scene for injuries, but no one was seriously injured, the force says.
“Violence and criminal damage have no part in peaceful protest,” it adds.
The force also says Border Force has advised "individuals from the boat have been transported outside of Hampshire for processing".
Image source, PA MediaA damaged police car at Eastney Point, near Eastney Beach in Portsmouth
Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today
Kent Police have defended their handling of the protest in Dover on Saturday, that saw people wearing masks and dressed in black block roads and bring traffic to the Port to a standstill.
Officers have admitted they did not know about the protest in advance, leading to accusations of a failure in intelligence-gathering.
Kent Police Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Brookes says in a statement: "It is important we distinguish between conduct we find objectionable and disruptive, and conduct which constitutes a criminal offence."
He says the only offence police are currently investigating was damage to a road.
He adds: "We will examine the intelligence process, but it is important to note that we do not as a matter of course monitor peaceful protesters, and their political viewpoints are not taken into consideration."
The police say they are disappointed there was so much disruption in the town, but insist they had engaged with those causing it to bring the demonstration to an end by lunchtime.
Eastney Landing ferry port in Portsmouth is much quieter today than Sunday evening.
This morning, a police cordon remains in place around a police car at the port which has its windscreen smashed.
Photos show officers patrolling on a rigid inflatable boat off the coast of Eastney Beach, while a pile of discarded lifejackets can be seen piled up on the side of the road.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, PA
Image source, ReutersBy Rob Corp
BBC Verify has been looking at flight-tracking websites to monitor activity over the English Channel yesterday around the time the migrant boat was crossing.
Flight-tracking websites show that a French Securite Civile helicopter left Cherbourg shortly before 09:00 BST on Sunday and headed north-east across the Channel. Tracking data is incomplete but the French aircraft flew north-east until it was about 39km (24 miles) off the French coast.
Tracking was intermittent before data showed the helicopter returning to Cherbourg just before 09:30.
Shortly after 11:00 a HM Coastguard King Air aircraft was tracked taking off from Newquay airport in Cornwall before heading east to the Channel. It arrived over a point approximately midway between the Isle of Wight and the coast of Normandy at 11:49.
This aircraft flew various circular and oval orbits over the Channel and was joined by a Coastguard helicopter at 12:52. At 13:38 the helicopter flew towards the Isle of Wight before landing at Lee-on-Solent just before 14:00.
At 13:59, 23km (15 miles) south of Ventnor, the Coastguard King Air completed its last orbit and flew west back towards Cornwall.
Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent
Over the weekend we saw migrants make a journey from the coast of Normandy in France to Portsmouth in Hampshire (a journey of around 75 miles (120km) depending on the specific route taken).
It's thought to be one of the longest boat journeys facilitated by smugglers attempting to transport people to the UK.
Migration analysts say people are experimenting with new routes across the English Channel to avoid deterrents.
For example, the French police have a heavy presence in places like Calais and Dunkirk, so migrants may think it would be easier to attempt their crossing from elsewhere without intervention.
But be in no doubt - a longer boat journey is more perilous and potentially could cost further lives.
One asylum seeker who came to the UK via small boat a few years ago tells the BBC that doesn't matter though.
He says: "The length of the journey is irrelevant. Migrants will do anything to come here - their desperation is immense and it will matter little that they'll be in the water longer."
He added their ultimate aim is to get into British waters so they can legally claim asylum.
James Kelly
Your Voice
Image source, Kelly PickardKelly Pickard was on a boat with her family in Portsmouth yesterday when they saw the RNLI come in.
"It was a very strange scene to witness, all the people on board, the authorities arriving and setting up temporary units for processing, coaches, police and protesters," she tells the BBC.
She explains the family had to abandon their car and sail instead to the other side of the harbour - walking home from there.
She calls it an "incredibly unsettling situation".
"I understand that people have their own views on the situation, however the views of some of the protesters that I heard last night have left me feeling genuinely unsettled," Pickard adds.
"It’s difficult not to worry about raising my child in a place where people hold and openly express such extreme views, particularly when they’re being expressed with so much aggression."
Daniel Sandford
UK correspondent
Image source, SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesDanny Tommo seen addressing the crowd at a rally supporting far-right activist Tommy Robinson - who was facing, and was later convicted of, contempt charges - outside the Old Bailey in 2019
The man who seems to have organised the balaclava protest in Dover and the more spontaneous protest in Portsmouth last night is Danny Thomas, known to his supporters as Danny Tommo.
He is a long-term campaigner against migrants and claims to be a Christian. "Christ is King!" was shouted alongside "Stop the boats!" at the Dover protest.
Danny Tommo first came to public attention in 2016 when he was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to attempting to kidnap at knifepoint a man called Graham Page.
When he came out of prison, he became a close associate of the anti-migrant and anti-Muslim activist known as Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon).
They appear to be less close now, though Tommy Robinson has expressed support for this weekend's protests.
Using social media, Danny Tommo spent last year filming himself on the beaches of France, harassing migrants.
In July, he announced a new venture called Patriot Platform. He spent the summer at Patriot Platform-themed events drumming up support for what he called "mass resistance" but without violence.
The Dover balaclava protest, well-organised and disciplined, was the group's first outing. It unlikely to be the last.
He seems to be borrowing ideas from groups like Just Stop Oil. Strong visual protests, with maximum disruption.
Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today
Image source, French lifeboat servicesThis grainy image given to us by the French lifeboat crew based at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue in Normandy shows the dinghy that was taken to Portsmouth, sparking last night's protests.
It was carrying around 140 people, and was only a short way into its journey at this point.
The boat was shadowed for around ten hours by several vessels to make sure it didn't get into difficulty, given the number of people on board.
When it reached UK waters, the migrants became the responsibility of the British authorities. They were transferred mid-Channel onto two lifeboats and taken to shore.
As we've been reporting, two protests took place in the south of England over the weekend with hundreds demonstrating against migrants arriving by small boats.
Here's a quick reminder of how events unfolded:
