England’s south coast is “not set up” to deal with migrant arrivals, a police chief has warned after more than 100 migrants reached Portsmouth in one of the longest small-boat journeys yet seen.
Donna Jones, the Conservative Hampshire and Isle of Wight police and crime commissioner, warned the Government must urgently prepare for the possibility that people smugglers could begin targeting beaches and ports further along the south coast.
Her intervention came after overnight protests erupted in Portsmouth following the arrival of around 140 migrants.
Masked demonstrators blocked the road leading away from the RNLI Portsmouth Lifeboat Station at Eastney Marina, with police forming a line behind riot shields to protect coaches waiting to transport the migrants for processing.
Ms Jones warned that the incident could represent a serious new challenge if smugglers begin moving away from the traditional Dover route.
She told the BBC: “We have hundreds of miles of coastline across southern England and if Dover is no longer the destination of choice, and instead there is going to be a spread across southern England, this is a significant issue for the Government.
“My concern now, as a police and crime commissioner, is that we don’t have this repeated.”
The warning came as police cars parked near the site of the protest at Eastney Point were damaged.
Joe Robertson, the Conservative MP for Isle of Wight East, said the arrival of a migrant boat so far west was “extremely concerning”.
“[It is] Extremely concerning to see an illegal migrant crossing this far west.
“We don’t know if this migrant boat was headed for the Isle of Wight but I’ll be contacting the Home Office first thing.
We need to know exactly what happened and if new routes are being used for mega-dinghies by people smugglers.”
The dinghy is believed to have travelled one of the longest distances recorded for a small boat crossing, while migrant landings as far west as Hampshire remain rare.
The arrival prompted protests from demonstrators who said they were determined to prevent authorities from transporting the migrants away from Portsmouth.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman condemned the disorder.
“Intimidating and thuggish behaviour is unacceptable; we always respect the right to peaceful protest but not when it crosses a line.”
Government sources said there was currently “no evidence” of a change in tactics by people smugglers.
A spokesman added: “Police have our full support.”
But the Government also came under fire from Portsmouth City Council, whose leader accused ministers of poor planning and “poor judgement”.
Steve Pitt, the Liberal Democrat council leader, said the city was “a completely unsuitable location” for the lifeboats to be brought ashore.
The Government needs to take more action to prevent small boat crossings.
“Clearly people are not happy with the situation and we respect everyone’s right to protest but it should be done peacefully and within the law.”
Councillor Pitt said coaches had eventually been able to leave Portsmouth early on Monday morning, taking the migrants outside Hampshire for processing.
But he said the council had not been consulted about the decision to bring the boats ashore.
“We are pleased the coaches were eventually able to leave Portsmouth early this morning to take people outside of Hampshire for processing in the normal way.
“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.
“It was a completely unsuitable location to bring the boats ashore, this entire situation was avoidable and has brought needless disruption to our city.
“I would like to thank the emergency services for their professionalism under very challenging circumstances.
“However, the Home Office has some serious questions to answer about their lack of planning, inconsistent decision-making and ultimately, poor judgement. They put people at risk. This cannot happen again.”
The extraordinary scenes also left one local grandfather scrambling to protect his own dinghy after protesters apparently tried to use it as evidence that migrants had arrived by boat in Portsmouth.
Barry John-Williams, 69, said he was forced to deflate his 2.7-metre dinghy after demonstrators offered him money to use it.
He described the protesters as “idiots”.
He said: “They [protesters] were offering to pay me money to take the boat and I said look it’s staying there, and that’s why I deflated it. What they were going to do with it I don’t know.
“One of the idiots, I heard him say they thought the migrants might have come in this boat”, he added.
The Portsmouth episode has intensified concerns that the small-boat crisis could become more geographically dispersed if smugglers identify alternative landing points.
For police forces, councils and emergency services along the south coast, the question is whether they are equipped to deal with a sudden arrival of migrants in locations that have not traditionally handled crossings.
Ms Jones’s warning was stark: with hundreds of miles of coastline potentially exposed, the Government may have to prepare for the small-boat crisis reaching far beyond Dover.
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