Shabana Mahmood warns anti-migrant activist of legal consequences
Shabana Mahmood has branded anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas a “far-right and outright racist” and warned he will face “the full force of the law” if he or his organisation commits any crimes near asylum sites, reports BritPanorama.
Thomas, known as “Danny Tommo”, is the co-founder of The Patriot Platform, which has been linked to anti-migrant protests in Portsmouth and Dover that involved masked individuals earlier this month. He was previously convicted of attempted kidnapping in 2016, resulting in a two-year prison sentence.
Ms Mahmood’s remarks followed Thomas’s assertion that “thousands” of his supporters could descend on Piddington, an Oxfordshire village embroiled in a dispute over asylum accommodation, purportedly to prevent male asylum seekers from being housed there.
In a discussion with far-right figure Tommy Robinson, Thomas stated: “How powerful would it be if 5,000 men … surround the camp. We take tents. We sit there for days and we don’t let them [the asylum seekers] get in.” His comments underscore the growing tensions surrounding the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK.
On Thursday, the home secretary differentiated between legitimate concerns from local residents regarding the establishment of a large-scale asylum centre and the actions of extremists like Thomas, who, she said, were “hijacking” public fears. “It is important to distinguish that anxiety, where reasonable people can have a conversation, and the far right and outright racists… hijacking an issue and then using that to divide our communities,” she noted. “Where they break the law, they will face the full force of the law.”
Earlier this week, the village of Piddington held a symbolic referendum, voting overwhelmingly to declare independence in protest against government plans to house 1,256 male asylum seekers at a nearby former military base. Thomas made a personal visit to Piddington the day following the vote to “speak directly with the locals.”
In a YouTube interview with Dan Wootton, he claimed to have met with residents, asserting: “The people we are meeting are just normal mothers, normal grandmothers, normal men. We have to start somewhere.” Thomas insisted that any plans to help the community would be “legal” and “lawful,” dismissing broader concerns about the impact of asylum seekers.
Speaking to the Guardian, Ms Mahmood sought to reassure Piddington’s residents, asserting that experiences from existing large sites accommodating asylum seekers demonstrate that dedicated facilities effectively manage local pressures. She acknowledged the anxiety prevalent in rural areas but reflected on similar concerns expressed by communities in urban centres, highlighting that worry about changes due to immigration is widespread across different types of neighbourhoods.
Thomas has been approached for comment, and the ongoing strife in Piddington exemplifies the multifaceted nature of the debate surrounding asylum accommodation in the UK, revealing deep tensions within communities over the integration of migrants.
