{"text":[[{"start":9.04,"text":"UK police are under pressure to explain their approach to far-right activists, after up to 500 masked protesters brought parts of Dover to a standstill on Saturday and groups blockaded a second port on Sunday evening."}],[{"start":22.14,"text":"On Saturday, people dressed in black and wearing scarves and balaclavas blocked roads near the Port of Dover, which is England’s main hub for ferries to France, disrupting operations for several hours before services resumed."}],[{"start":35.4,"text":"On Sunday, a group including Daniel Thomas, the far-right activist who claimed credit for Saturday’s events, spent hours trying to prevent lifeboat crews in Portsmouth from bringing ashore 140 migrants picked up from a large dinghy launched from Normandy."}],[{"start":49.52,"text":"The UK government condemned “the intimidating and thuggish behaviour” in Portsmouth, adding, “The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder.”"}],[{"start":60.32,"text":"Mike Tapp, Labour MP for Dover and Deal and an immigration minister until earlier this year, said there appeared to be few officers around on Saturday."}],[{"start":68.24,"text":"“I will be looking urgently on Monday to ask questions around why we didn’t know about this, because we do tend to know when protests are coming to the area,” he added. “In this instance it would appear that the police didn’t know about it and the resources were pretty thin on the ground.”"}],[{"start":83.36,"text":"Videos posted online on Sunday showed hundreds of people at the port of Portsmouth, some wading into the sea, stopping lifeboat crews from landing with the people they had picked up. The migrants were eventually successfully brought ashore in the early hours of Monday morning."}],[{"start":98.08,"text":"Most migrants rescued at sea are brought ashore in ports around Dover. But the vessel involved on Sunday had been launched from Normandy, where there are fewer security forces seeking to block launches."}],[{"start":108.96,"text":"The vessel’s large size was also in line with a recent trend for smugglers, who are short of dinghies. A dinghy carrying a record 230 people made the crossing in August."}],[{"start":118.78,"text":"A video posted by Tommy Robinson, the far-right activist whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, showed Thomas, the apparent organiser of Saturday’s events, wearing a life jacket in Portsmouth and encouraging other activists to join him."}],[{"start":132.04,"text":"Hampshire Police did not immediately respond to a request to comment."}],[{"start":136.88,"text":"Speaking about Saturday’s events, Tapp said the gathering was clearly co-ordinated given how many people had arrived wearing the same clothes at the same time: “We know that laws were broken because they were blocking the roads and wearing face coverings.”"}],[{"start":151.78,"text":"On Saturday, Thomas shared a video of the demonstrators in Dover on Instagram saying “It’s time! Protect our country! . . . This is our warning!”"}],[{"start":161.84,"text":"Nick Lowles, chief executive of Hope Not Hate, the anti-racism campaign group, said that Thomas — known as “Danny Tommo” — had repeatedly spoken about the need for direct action."}],[{"start":172.76,"text":"“Despite warnings from Hope Not Hate, the authorities have failed to act,” said Lowles, who added the disruption was “clearly the consequence of the inaction from the police and we fear that without decisive action things will only get worse from here”."}],[{"start":187.56,"text":"The “spontaneous” protest was broken up by midday on Saturday and no arrests were made, according to a post by Kent Police on X."}],[{"start":195.353,"text":"Martin Gallagher, a former superintendent, told GB News that there had been an “intelligence failure” by the force. “Whatever intelligence opportunities exist about this group, the anti-immigration group, they’ve obviously failed,” he said."}],[{"start":209.6,"text":"He raised the idea of the police using the Public Order Act 1936 to counter such protests. That legislation relates to a group forming in uniform that can be seen as acting against the state and was drawn up to counter Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British fascists in the 1930s."}],[{"start":227.52,"text":"Kevin Mills — the Labour leader of Dover District Council — told the BBC that the protests had “caught several agencies on the hoof”."}],[{"start":235.32,"text":"Tapp praised the apparent “cross-party” consensus of political parties criticising the protests."}],[{"start":240.8,"text":"Robert Jenrick — Treasury spokesperson for Reform UK, which has taken a hard line on immigration into Britain — described the disruption as “disgraceful”. Nigel Farage, the party leader, said the action was “wrong at every level”."}],[{"start":254.24,"text":"Jonathan Reynolds, Labour business secretary, heavily criticised the disruption, saying that while “peaceful protest” is an “essential part of British life . . . that’s not dressing up in costumes like this and disrupting people’s lives”."}],[{"start":267.96,"text":"But that consensus was broken by Rupert Lowe, Great Yarmouth MP and leader of far-right party Restore Britain, who said he “proudly stands with those peacefully protesting against illegal immigration in Dover”."}],[{"start":281.4,"text":"Lowe said on X that wearing balaclavas was “undesirable” but “perfectly fair for people living in this Orwellian age”. In June 2025, Lowe tabled an early day motion in parliament calling for a ban on “full-face coverings in public spaces”."}],[{"start":297.6,"text":"A government spokesperson said: “We condemn the intimidating and thuggish behaviour in Dover yesterday and the disruption it caused."}],[{"start":305.96,"text":"“Access to the port was restored swiftly and traffic is flowing freely today.”"}],[{"start":310.88,"text":"Thomas, Kent Police and the Metropolitan Police were contacted for comment."}],[{"start":321.6,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788774928_7914.mp3"}