Portsmouth braces for fresh protest chaos as rival anti-migrant groups to descend on city & cops slap down mask ban

PORTSMOUTH is bracing for fresh protest chaos today as rival anti-migrant groups are set to descend on the city. The two groups, as well as a counter protest by the Stand up to Racism campaign, are set to converge from around midday. Around 500 protesters gathered near Eastney Beach, Portsmouth, on September 6 Today’s demonstration comes as anti-migrant protesters clashed with police last Sunday Credit: Eddie Mitchell It comes as Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary confirmed ahead of today’s chaos that it would use its new powers to ban masks. The measures will apply to parts of Portsmouth from 10am Saturday until Sunday morning – with anyone breaching the restrictions potentially facing arrest. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The demonstration comes days after hundreds of anti-migrant protesters clashed with police last Sunday when around 140 Channel migrants were brought ashore by the RNLI at Portsmouth’s Eastney Marina. Demonstrators blocked roads in an attempt to stop coaches carrying the migrants from leaving the city on Sunday night. Demonstrators left the area at around 3am on Monday morning after cops issued a Section 14 dispersal order Credit: PA The protests follow around 140 migrants arriving in Portsmouth Credit: Paul Jacobs/pictureexclusive.com Vehicles were damaged and a small number of officers injured following the disorder which the government branded “thuggish”. Demonstrators left the area at around 3am on Monday morning after Hampshire Constabulary issued a Section 14 dispersal order. The action followed a separate protest at the Port of Dover the previous day where hundreds of men in balaclavas and wearing black blocked a road at the ferry terminal. Both protests last weekend were organised by Patriotic Platform, a group which wants to build a group of voters to influence political parties on the right. Most read in The Sun The group’s leader, Daniel Thomas, aka Danny Tommo – an associate of Tommy Robinson – is not expected to be present at the march in Portsmouth today. In a statement on Friday he penned: “No member, organiser, representative, or affiliate of Patriot Platform will attend, speak at, steward, or take part in any event in Portsmouth.” He added: “Anyone who claims to be from Patriot Platform, to represent Patriot Platform, or to be a member acting on our behalf in Portsmouth is not authorised and is not telling the truth.” On Friday, cops arrested 42-year-old Del Leon Somerville on suspicion of violent disorder and assaulting a constable in the execution of their duty during last Sunday’s demonstrations in Portsmouth. He was subsequently charged with both offences and remanded to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court later today. Both marches are expected to begin at All Saints Church on Commercial Road as local colleges have been warned to stay away from the area. It comes as Hampshire police will use new powers to arrest anyone wearing a mask at today’s demonstration. The force said the mask ban was to “reduce opportunities for violence, intimidation and criminality”. They added the move followed “recent incidents of violence and intimidation by a minority of those who have been intent on disrupting peaceful protest”. Last month, Sadiq Farhad Azad, an Iraqi national, was charged with raping a 14 year old boy in Portsmouth on August 11. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said Azad, 33, had also been charged with allegedly stalking a woman in her 20s over the course of a year, and criminal damage of a car belonging to a family member of the alleged victim, police said. Latest figures from the Home Office show 768 migrants crossed the channel by small boat in the last seven days to September 11. Around 17,250 migrants have crossed the channel in small boats since the start of the year. Quarterly Home Office data shows that at the end of June 2026 there were 16,021 asylum seekers housed in hotels, approximately 17% of all those in receipt of support. That’s figure is down from 20,885 at the end of March 2026, and 29,561 in June 2024. The number of hotels used for this purpose has also decreased. As of August 2026 the government said “fewer than 160” hotels were being used to house asylum seekers, compared to 213 in July 2024. A Home Office statement previously said: “This Government is bearing down on dangerous small boat crossings and restoring control at our border. “Joint efforts have seen over 48,000 crossing attempts prevented and 1,100 boats and engines seized since the election. “We are making progress, with the number of small boat crossings down this year and the lowest number recorded for the month of July since 2020. “But we must go further, which is why we have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40 per cent more boots on the ground on French beaches.”