Politicians fear Southampton could be next after Portsmouth migrant arrival

Senior councillors have voiced worries migrants crossing the English Channel from France could be brought ashore in Southampton.

The concern was raised after 120 migrants arrived on a single dinghy along the coast in Portsmouth on Sunday.

Labour policing minister Sarah Jones said subsequent disorder on the island city was “intimidating and thuggish”.

The scenes at Eastney in Portsmouth came a day after a large group of masked men held a demonstration over small-boat crossings at Dover.

Councillor Philip Crook, Reform deputy group leader in Southampton, said: “Is Southampton next? The arrival of illegal migrants into the naval port of Portsmouth is of serious concern.

“This yet again clearly illustrates the inability of the Tories previously and now Labour to control our borders. It also begs a question on why the French are not affecting rescue in their territorial waters?

“There is a solution and it lays at the ballot box.”

Conservative group leader Peter Baillie said small-boat crossings were the public’s number one issue when Labour won the general election in 2024 and this remained the case now.

He said Labour had not been “taking it seriously whatsoever”.

Cllr Baillie said: “In fact, worse than not taking it seriously, they seem to be deliberately gaslighting people by trying to pretend they’re doing a great job because the number of crossings have gone down.

“What that doesn’t tell you is that the average number of people per boat has gone up hugely, plus there’s been extremely poor weather over the hot summer months when there would have been an expectation of far more.

“The government hasn’t got a grip and people are seeing through it that they haven’t got a grip.”

Cllr Baillie said places like Portsmouth were not prepared for small-boat crossings, adding that it was a serious situation.

He added: “The Home Office need to get a grip on it because Southampton is a few miles down the coast from Portsmouth and illegal migrants could quite easily be landing in Southampton very soon and we haven’t got the capacity and infrastructure in Southampton to deal with it.”

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said a number of police, Coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged during the protests in Portsmouth on Sunday evening.

A force spokesperson said a small number of officers were injured and received treatment at the scene.

No arrests had been made as of Monday afternoon, but an investigation had been launched to identify offenders responsible for any assaults to officers, criminal damage to vehicles, or other criminal offences.

Cllr Baillie said he supported peaceful protests but he was against people covering their faces as it can be intimidating, whether intentionally or not.

He said “As long as the protests are peaceful, then that is a cornerstone or our democracy that people can protest and the problem that the government is causing is that they’re not giving people a means to express their dissatisfaction with so many illegal migrants coming to Britain.”

Liberal Democrat group leader Richard Blackman said: “I was very alarmed by the intimidating behaviour of far-right activists seen in both Portsmouth and Dover over the weekend, and also by the apparent failings in police intelligence gathering beforehand.

“Irregular migration is an issue faced by many western governments. Unless better international cooperation can prevent it, we will have to continue to manage it.”

Labour city council leader Sarah Bogle said she was concerned about what happened on Sunday night in Portsmouth.

Cllr Bogle said: “I don’t want to rush to judgment as this is clearly a difficult situation and I don’t know if it is a one-off or something more likely to repeat.

“The call for resources as needed is a fair one.”

The police spokesperson said Border Force had advised that individuals from the boat that was brought ashore in Portsmouth had been transported outside of Hampshire for processing as part of the normal process after they were safely disembarked.

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