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.
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