Unrest at anti-migrant demonstrations prompts Labour leadership’s response
Andy Burnham has urged Labour to halt the “politics of poison seeping into our streets” after a weekend of unrest at anti-migrant demonstrations, reports BritPanorama.
The Prime Minister addressed MPs and peers in a private meeting on Monday, asserting the party needs to focus on countering “fear with positivity and hope”. The comments follow disruptions on Saturday where groups of masked men obstructed roads to the Port of Dover.
Further confrontations occurred in Portsmouth on Sunday, resulting in damage to official vehicles and injuries to a small number of police officers. “We’ve got a fantastic opportunity in our hands to change this country for the better. We go into the autumn, in really good heart, with a spring in our step,” the Prime Minister told the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).
Amidst rising tensions, he stated, “There’s a lot at stake and it requires us to counter fear with positivity and hope. We have a responsibility in the times that we’re living in. It’s a solemn responsibility to prevent the politics of poison seeping into our streets.”
Setting the tone ahead of the party conference, he indicated that his government would be “boldly, authentically, confidently Labour” and focus on making the public believe that politics can enhance their lives. “We have to fulfil our historic mission all over again and bring hope to a divided country. To lift people and make them feel that things are possible. That we can make people’s lives better,” he added.
“Never accept the narrative that there’s nothing we can do.” More than 200 protesters attempted to impede coaches transporting migrants for processing after around 120 people arrived in a boat near the Isle of Wight on Sunday afternoon.
Policing minister Sarah Jones warned earlier that there was “no excuse” for threatening behaviour and that any demonstrators crossing from peaceful protest into illegality would “face the full force of the law”.
Jones described the group claiming responsibility for the demonstration at Dover, named Patriot Platform, as “far-right racist”. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp stated that while the right to protest “should never be violently exercised”, he also criticized the Government’s record on migration.
“And if they’re serious about fixing this and ending public anger, they need to get serious about the measures – leave the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) and deport illegal immigrants as soon as they arrive,” Philp added. “Then people won’t be so angry.”
The demonstration at Dover appeared to surprise authorities, with Kent Police characterizing it as “spontaneous”. Meanwhile, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has launched an investigation into potential assaults and criminal damage following the unrest in Portsmouth.
Labour MP for Dover and former migration minister Mike Tapp called for Mr Burnham to convene a Cobra meeting on what he described as a “national emergency” regarding small boat crossings. “We have to gain control of the borders, and of course we’ve made progress but by convening Cobra, all of the mechanisms of government can come behind this problem and we can do our best to solve it,” he told Sky’s The Cathy Newman Show. “It’s uncontrolled borders, although we have gained some control.”
