UK Minister Condemns 'Thuggish' Anti-Migrant Protests in Portsmouth

Emma Reynolds, a British minister, criticized the hundreds of demonstrators who obstructed roads in Portsmouth on Sunday night in an attempt to prevent migrants from arriving from France, labeling their actions as “thuggish.” This protest marked the second anti-migrant rally in just two days, following an incident on Saturday in Dover where masked individuals chanted “Stop the boats,” targeting vessels transporting asylum seekers across the English Channel. Both protests seemed to be orchestrated by Daniel Thomas, associated with prominent far-right figure Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson. On Monday, Reynolds, the chief secretary to the Treasury, informed Sky News that police had managed to control the situation. She noted a significant decrease in asylum seeker numbers, which dropped to approximately 17,000 from January 1 to September 1, a 43 percent decline compared to the same timeframe last year.