Hundreds of anti-migrant protesters blockade Dover port
Hard-Right activists are staging anti-migrant protests in Dover , blockading the port and disrupting surrounding roads.
Groups of masked men dressed in black descended onto the roads to the UK's busiest ferry port on Saturday morning.
Responsibility for the protests appear to have been claimed by a hard-Right faction called Patriot Platform, which said on a live stream that it aimed to blockade the port for three days.
The group was founded by Danny Thomas, also known as Danny Tomo, who is understood to be a close associate of far-Right leader Tommy Robinson , whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
Protesters have blocked the main road into Dover port
Robinson shared a video of the protesters on X, encouraging more to join, saying "get there to support them".
He said: "Simultaneously at different locations across Dover patriots have mobilised to close down the port. There are three-plus locations that Patriots have shut down so far with many more planned to be closed.
"People wanted action. I'm guessing there are [hundreds of thousands] of men willing to fill their shoes."
Patriot Platform claims to be motivated by a 'love of country' - Remco van Schellen
Patriot Platform declared on its website that it "needs people prepared to act" to defend Britain.
Thomas previously shared his plan to "deploy multiple boats in the English Channel and at the Port of Dover, combined with determined boots on the ground".
In May, he posted on X: "Together we will reclaim our borders, restore order, and send a clear message: Britain belongs to the British people and we are taking it back."
His group claims to be motivated by "a love of country, responsibility to our families and belief in Britain's future".
The balaclava-clad activists prevented traffic from accessing the port, to the growing frustration of lorry drivers and tourists trying to board ferries.
At one stage, dozens of the protesters linked arms to stop a police van close to the approach road to the port.
The blockade has led to a four-mile-long queue of traffic along the A20, closing it in both directions.
The Port of Dover said that an "ongoing public order incident" was affecting "all routes" into and out of the town.
Kent Police added they were aware of the incident and are "engaging with protesters".
Credit: SWNS
Dover is the UK's busiest international ferry and passenger port, dealing with 9,128,648 passengers by road in 2025 and 2,119,030 freight vehicles, according to the port's website.
As well as being the country's busiest commercial ferry port, Dover is usually a hub for migrant arrivals .
Most migrants attempting to come to the UK by small boat are intercepted and brought ashore by Border Security Command to a compound in Dover, Kent.
One social media account under the name of Britain Is Broken shared on X: "DOVER SAYS NO [sic].
"HUNDREDS of patriots have gathered with Danny Tommo in Dover this morning to DEMAND an end to the invasion of the UK.
"We are seeing scenes like this every day up and down the UK as people become increasingly more angry at the unending mass immigration."
The demonstrators have caused a four-mile-long queue on the A20
Chris Vinson, a Conservative councillor who is leader of the opposition and represents for Walmer on Dover district council, said the demonstration had brought Dover "to a standstill".
He said: "Overnight, clearly what appears to be several-hundred masked men wearing black clothing and balaclavas seem to have coordinated and loaded into rental vans and then descended on roads leading in and out of Dover."
Mr Vinson said the protest appeared to be "illegal migration-related", but said that the demonstrators did not appear to have placards or banners.
He added: "I know people who have worked night shifts in the port who are being prevented from leaving for fears for their safety.
"Women who are in cars feeling intimidated, people stuck in traffic – who obviously are without toilet facilities – queues way back on the A20 and the other approach roads into Dover."
Mike Tapp, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal, criticised the masked men and said he was in contact with the police.
Writing on Facebook, he said: "I am fed up with idiots coming to Dover to cause disruption. I bet if you asked any one of those 'protesters', they wouldn't know small boat crossings are down by 40 per cent and we are working hard to fix the mess.
"Go home, enjoy your weekend/get a job."
Credit: Sky News
Thomas was a prominent figure in last summer's controversial Operation Raise the Colours movement , in which participants hung the flag of St George on streets across the country in a supposed show of patriotism.
A previous "Stop the Boats" protest organised by Thomas in Dover in April appeared to fall flat, when barely 20 people turned up.
Tommy Robinson with Daniel Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, at a hard-Right rally - Daniel Thomas/Facebook
The Telegraph revealed in 2018 that Thomas had a conviction for an attempted kidnapping . The father of four was jailed for the attempted armed kidnapping of a man in Hampshire.
In July 2016, a judge condemned Thomas and two other men for an "extraordinarily frightening incident" matched only by its "stupidity" in which they armed themselves with knives and targeted Graham Page at his home on Hayling Island.
Mr Page told Portsmouth Crown Court that Thomas, along with Darren Anscombe, 38, and Leo Smith, 34, had burst into the house shouting "you're coming with us".
He claimed the men had wrongly accused him of stealing £10,000 of drugs from them and had tried to drag him away.
Mr Page resisted and the men fled, shouting "we'll be back". Upon arrest, Thomas, from Hampshire, admitted the offence. He was jailed for two years. The other two received 30-month sentences.
After his release from prison last year, Thomas adopted the pseudonym Danny Tommo and organised marches around the country calling for Robinson to be freed from a sentence for contempt of court.
