sexta-feira, 18 de setembro de 2026
Shabana Mahmood says she wants to distinguish between far-right extremism and legitimate local concerns over asylum sites
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UK Home
Secretary Shabana Mahmood has strongly condemned anti-asylum activist Daniel
Thomas (known as "Danny Tommo"), calling him a "far-right and
outright racist" who will face the "full force of the law" if
his organization, the Patriot Platform, commits any crimes
The
intervention follows a symbolic referendum where residents of Piddington,
Oxfordshire, voted 285 to 26 to "leave the UK" in protest of a
planned asylum facility at a nearby former defense site . Thomas subsequently visited the
village and claimed thousands of his masked followers could descend on the area
to block the arrival of male asylum seekers
Key
Details from the Report
- Extremism vs. Local Concerns: Mahmood emphasized the need to
distinguish between the "reasonable anxiety" of local residents
and far-right extremists who are "hijacking" community issues to
sow division
- Reassurance on Local Resources: To alleviate fears regarding
pressure on local services, the Home Secretary stated that the facility
would be relatively self-contained, drawing on successful
management models used at other large sites like Wethersfield and
Crowborough
- Wider Community Anxiety: Mahmood noted that concerns
over asylum accommodation are not unique to rural villages, pointing out
that inner-city areas—including her own Birmingham constituency—face
similar anxieties regarding houses of multiple occupation (HMOs)
- Local Response: Piddington parish councillor
Joe Marshall confirmed Thomas made a private visit to the village for a
tour, though he noted it was unclear if residents actually wanted any
"security assistance" from masked individuals
Far-right planning to mobilise 'thousands' for protest over UK migrant camp
Show
caption: Masked anti-migrant protesters at Dover train station, on th…
Far-right
planning to mobilise 'thousands' for protest over UK migrant camp
Patriot
Platform sets sights on village where residents oppose government plans to
house 1,250 male asylum seekers
September
15, 2026
The
leader of a far-right anti-migrant group in the UK has claimed he is able to
mobilise thousands of supporters to protest at a proposed site to house
"small-boat" migrants.
Daniel
Thomas, the founder of the Patriot Platform, organised recent protests
in Portsmouth after the arrival of more than 140 asylum seekers
crammed on to one so-called mega dinghy.
His group
was also behind a protest in Dover in which black-clad, masked protesters
blocked roads while chanting “stop the boats”. The action by around 300 Patriot
Platform supporters caught police off guard.
Mr
Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, is an associate of the far-right anti-Islam
activist Tommy
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
He has
now set his sights on the village of Piddington in Oxfordshire, where residents
are opposing government plans to house 1,250 male asylum seekers at a former
Ministry of Defence site.
Speaking
to Mr Robinson on the fellow agitator's YouTube channel, Mr Thomas said “how
powerful would it be if 5,000 men … surround that camp, we take tents, we sit
there for days and we don’t let them get in”.
He
suggested the Patriot Platform would be “reinforced from members from the
north, from Scotland, from Ireland, all peacefully”.
Show
caption: Anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas with some of his masked …
A group
of 133 women in Piddington last week sent an open letter to every female Member
of Parliament to share their concerns about the plans, saying “we will not feel
safe walking our streets”. The village is holding a symbolic referendum on
whether to leave the UK.
Some
Patriotic Platform supporters are now reportedly considering taking a vessel
out to sea to confront migrant
boats as they cross to the UK. It was
described as “an early-stage idea” that could become a “major moment” if a boat
carrying migrants were stopped, The Sun reported.
There is
no suggestion Mr Thomas himself is involved in planning any direct action in
the English Channel, which according to reports could involve sailing out into
international waters to turn around one of the boats carrying migrants.
In
January, the French government banned 10 British far-right activists linked to
the Raise the Colours group from entering France after they had posted footage
of themselves harassing asylum seekers waiting to cross the Channel.
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Dr
William Allchorn, an expert on the far-right from Anglia Ruskin University in
Cambridge, said a high level of organisation in groups such as Raise the
Colours and the Patriot Platform, as well as the wearing of balaclavas to hide
members' identities, was a “new development” that gives the activists a
paramilitary feel.
The past
two years have “seen a lot of energy and momentum within the street-protest
scene with Tommy Robinson and the United Kingdom rallies mobilising record
numbers”, Dr Allchorn told The National.
“They've
at least tried to keep to large demonstrations peaceful, with vigilante kind of
tactics quite peripheral. So what we're seeing is kind of an uptick in that and
the use of very clandestine, co-ordinated and sophisticated techniques.”
Dr
Allchorn said established far-right groups have often inserted themselves into
localised protests and become involved in organising them.
“I think
what's new is them attaching themselves almost as this kind of militaristic or
paramilitary flank to a lot of these larger demonstrations, and adding that
intimidation factor to them,” he said.
Show
caption: Residents of Piddington in Oxfordshire are opposed to plans …
But the
Patriotic Platform faces a “fork in the road” when it comes to future protests.
“The group will need to make a tactical decision because we've seen a lot of
counter-terrorism powers being used against pro-Palestine demonstrators,” Dr
Allchorn said.
“The
police might be forced to go down that route if they continue to pursue these
kind of more spontaneous tactics. If they go down the conventional protest
route, that could be a dead end because Tommy Robinson is kind of ruling the
roost when it comes to those.”
Whatever
route they take, the upshot will likely be a feeling of apprehension among
minorities.
“One of
the things that I find it hard to relay to policymakers is the effect that
these types of movements have on people from migrant backgrounds and also from
minority religious groups,” the academic said.
So far
this year, 17,281 migrants have crossed the English Channel, down by nearly 45
per cent compared with the same period in 2025.
Show
caption: A boat destined for people smugglers to use was among those …
The UK’s Labour government
says this drop shows the success of its co-operative deal with France to
intercept the boats before they can cross the English Channel.
The
National Crime Agency (NCA) has today cited a report it produced along with the
Home Office, which it says shows law enforcement activity targeting supply
chains, enablers and launches, has led to a drop off in demand.
The
report, which is not being made public because it draws on sensitive
intelligence, says it is “highly likely that the supply chain constraints”
stemming from “sustained law enforcement pressure were a key factor in reducing
events and arrival numbers in the first six months of 2026”.
The
squeeze on supplies was “compounded by delays in transporting small boat
equipment and material as a result of the war in the Middle East”.
Among the
successes the NCA is highlighting was the seizure in July of 25 inflatable
boats and their engines at the port of Felixstowe. Officials say these would
have been delivered to people-smuggling gangs in France.
Show
caption: French law enforcement officers intercept a small boat attem…
Activity
targeting people smugglers as well as the French authorities’ prevention
of launches on beaches has played an important role, said the NCA.
But in
response, people smugglers have been cramming more migrants on to each boat in
a bid to maintain their profits. The number on one boat reached
230, the same capacity as a Boeing 737 Max-10 passenger jet.
Meanwhile,
Britain's Home Office says 500 new officers are to be recruited in a £500
million ($673.8 million) crackdown on money laundering and organised crime.
Shabana
Mahmood, the UK Home Secretary, said the new personnel will be “going after the
criminal bosses behind organised crime and stripping them of the funds they use
to fuel drug trafficking, people smuggling and other serious crime”.
The Home
Office says almost £1 million has been stripped from people smugglers and
immigration offenders throughout the past 12 months.
Outright racist’ activist Daniel Thomas will face ‘full force of law’ over any crimes, says home secretary
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Outright
racist’ activist Daniel Thomas will face ‘full force of law’ over any crimes,
says home secretary
Shabana
Mahmood says she wants to distinguish between far-right extremism and
legitimate local concerns over asylum sites
Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor
Fri 18
Sep 2026 07.43 BST
Shabana
Mahmood has described the anti-asylum activist Daniel Thomas as “a far-right
and outright racist” who will feel “the full force of the law” if his
organisation commits crimes near contested asylum sites such as Piddington.
In an
interview with the Guardian, the home secretary also “wanted to reassure”
concerned villagers that asylum seekers due to move in to a neighbouring former
defence site would not “put pressure” on local resources because they would be
given “self-contained facilities”.
Her
intervention came after Thomas, a convicted criminal known as “Danny Tommo” and
the co-founder of the
Patriot Platform, said thousands of his masked followers could descend “for
days” on to the Oxfordshire village to prevent male asylum seekers being moved
in.
At the
launch of a crackdown on knife crime in Birmingham on Thursday,
Mahmood said she wanted to distinguish between legitimate concerns felt by
Piddington residents over a large-scale asylum centre and extremists who were
“hijacking” community concerns.
“I
understand the anxiety of local people when they’re about to see a change to
their community. But it is important to distinguish that anxiety, where
reasonable people can have a conversation, and the far right and outright
racists like Danny Thomas walking into town, hijacking an issue and then using
that to divide our communities,” she said.
“Their
behaviour is completely unacceptable. And where they break the law, they will
face the full force of the law.”
Residents
of Piddington, Oxfordshire, voted overwhelmingly to become an independent state
in a symbolic ‘referendum’. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA
Piddington’s
local population registered
their opposition to the proposed asylum facility on Wednesday, casting 285
votes against 26 in a symbolic ballot to leave the UK and seek
self-determination.
The
parish has been approached by hundreds of other town and village councillors
and residents for advice on replicating the campaign, which was backed by the
Conservatives, Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats.
Thomas
visited Piddington the day after the vote. He was dressed in a grey suit and
white shirt and was not accompanied by people wearing balaclavas.
Joe
Marshall, a parish councillor, said it was a private visit and Thomas was due
to be given a tour of the village and a cup of tea by a resident.
“It is a
closed meeting. We will engage with them and walk them around the village and
have a cup of tea,” he said. “We have also had an open invitation to Reform,
Labour, Conservatives and Restore to visit.”
Marshall
said it was not clear that villagers would want security assistance from men in
balaclavas, if it were offered.
Piddington,
Oxfordshire; MoD Bicester, the proposed site for the asylum camp, can be seen
in the background. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA
Thomas
visited the village hall briefly and later visited the entrance to the Ministry
of Justice camp where the asylum seekers are scheduled to be housed. In an
interview broadcast on YouTube with Dan Wootton, he said he had spoken to three
residents.
“The
people we are meeting are just normal mothers, normal grandmothers, normal
men,” Thomas said. “We have to start somewhere. Right now there are no men in
that camp. We are going to put a legal, lawful plan in place to help this
community in a way that has never been done before.”
Asked how
she would respond to Piddington residents after the vote, Mahmood said: “I want
to reassure the residents of Piddington that actually our experience from other
large sites where we already have, asylum seekers accommodated, whether that’s
in Wethersfield
or Crowborough,
is that putting all facilities on to one site is actually the best way to
manage pressures for local communities.
“Our
experience of other large sites where we are housing asylum seekers is that
we’re able to put on that site more of the facilities that asylum seekers need.
It’s a relatively self-contained facility, and the knock-on pressure to those
local areas, I don’t think we’re going to see.”
Mahmood
said she understood the anxiety of people in the countryside towards large
groups of asylum seekers, but she pointed out that many people in inner-city
areas such as her Birmingham constituency had similar concerns.
“I do
understand the anxiety that people feel, when they’re about to see a change in
their community or they are reading misinformation on the internet, or when
they’re just concerned that a village is about to have a facility nearby that
maybe they think may pose them some challenges,” she said.
“I also
hear that concern from communities such as mine, where there are large numbers
of HMOs [houses of multiple occupation] and accommodation in which asylum
seekers are held as well. There is concern across every type of community. Not
just in the countryside or in those sorts of areas, but in inner-city areas as
well.”
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