Dover and Portsmouth showed us a new kind of far right – and the authorities were caught out | Joe Mulhall

Sadly, we’ve become used to far-right protests in recent years. Whether it’s the vast demonstrations led by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson) in central London, or the hundreds of local protests outside hotels and HMOs housing asylum seekers, the sight of far-right activists chanting anti-migrant slogans has become all too common.

What we saw in Dover and Portsmouth over the weekend feels different. At roughly 7am on Saturday morning, hundreds of balaclava-clad men, dressed all in black, began piling out of the backs of vans and blocked roads around Dover port. Shockingly, the police appear to have known nothing about it in advance.

Then, on Sunday evening, a group of men gathered near a Portsmouth beach to “block” the arrival of asylum seekers on a boat. The group had been monitoring maritime apps and tracking the progress of boats towards Britain. They put out a call for people to join them and dozens answered, including well-known activists from the neo-Nazi movement.

What we have seen over the past three days marks a dangerous new development in the far right. While previous protests – many of which descended into ugly racist violence – have been worrying enough, we are now faced with a new, more clandestine and confrontational threat.

Hope Not Hate was the first to identify that the Dover disturbance was organised by a far-right group called Patriot Platform. The balaclava-clad men blocking roads were part of a new network founded by Tommy Robinson’s right-hand man Daniel Thomas (AKA Danny Tommo).

Launched in June, the group unites a web of smaller localised anti-migrant groups into a single body. Current members hail from the Kent Patriots, Watford Patriots, South London Patriots, South-East Patriots, North-West Patriots, Surrey Patriots and Chertsey Patriots, to name just a few.

Patriot Platform is a self-professed Christian “army of patriots” formed to, in Thomas’s words, “reclaim our borders, restore order and send a clear message: Britain belongs to the British people”. The group functions as a vigilante unit to combat immigration and revive what it says are Christian values, ready to spring into action across the country at Thomas’s word.

Worryingly, there is an unusual degree of discipline to Patriot Platform’s organising. Rather than being a single entity, it operates as a network for the local groups. These groups utilise various social media platforms, most commonly Instagram, X, Facebook and TikTok, for their promotional output.

However, unlike organisers of previous public anti-migrant protests, Patriot Platform operates clandestinely, with event planning happening via closed groups and direct personal communication. Its means of operation have more in common with football hooligan gangs than with traditional anti-migrant protest groups. This is how its supporters managed to arrive in their hundreds in Dover unnoticed.

Rather than being met with the usual mealy-mouthed condemnations and talk of “legitimate concerns”, these “protests” need to be called what they are: far-right vigilantism. These aren’t fearful locals, they are organised far-right activists led by Thomas, a man who pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping and was sentenced to two years in prison after taking part in an armed attempt to abduct a man during a drugs-related dispute.

Since the riots of 2024, Thomas has repeatedly spoken about the need to take to the streets and take direct action. He has been upfront about his intention to create a “patriotic army that is able to take control of the United Kingdom”.

Despite warnings from Hope Not Hate, the authorities have failed to act. They have allowed Thomas to agitate, organise and mobilise large groups around the country. Last weekend was the consequence of police inaction, and I fear that without decisive action things will only get worse.

Clearly, the government needs to be far more robust in dealing with far-right vigilantism. The Home Office is so preoccupied with being seen to be tough on immigration that it has neglected the safety of the very migrants and asylum seekers being targeted.

And the police response exposes serious failings in the authorities’ approach to far-right anti-immigrant violence more broadly. Time and again, they appear unaware of the strength of protests and unprepared for the violence that sometimes results.

The events in Dover and Portsmouth should be a wake-up call for anyone who believes that far-right extremism can be managed through inaction. This is no longer simply about angry protests or offensive rhetoric. We are seeing organised groups willing to mobilise quickly, operate covertly and confront those they see as enemies. The longer authorities fail to recognise the seriousness of this threat, the bolder these groups will become.

The government must act now, before vigilantism becomes normalised and far-right activists feel they can operate with impunity on Britain’s streets.