Minister condemns black-clad protesters for 'dressing up in costumes' during Dover blockade

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has strongly criticised a demonstration that took place in Dover on Saturday, in which dozens of masked people dressed in black blocked roads near the port. Speaking to Sky News, he said that while peaceful protest remains an essential part of British life, this incident amounted to people "dressing up in costumes" and disrupting others' lives.

Reynolds said the situation had since been resolved and that such scenes were not something Britain would want to see repeated. He declined to discuss policing specifics but said he believed officers had handled the incident well overall.

What happened in Dover

Responsibility for organising the protest appears to lie with Patriot Platform, an anti-immigration group with far-right connections that describes itself as holding a strong love for the homeland. Kent police were present and engaged with demonstrators on Saturday, in what the Port of Dover described as a public order incident. The crowd had dispersed by lunchtime, and no arrests were made.

Traffic on the A20 to and from the port was halted, causing delays of up to 45 minutes and roughly four miles of congestion. Footage circulating online showed masked individuals marching in a group along the road while lorries queued alongside police vehicles. Protesters linked arms to form a blockade across the road while chanting anti-immigration slogans.

Political reaction

Mike Tapp, Labour MP for Dover and Deal, wrote online that a clearly coordinated protest should not be described as spontaneous, as police had characterised it, and questioned whether intelligence warning signs had been missed. He stressed that concerns about illegal migration are not inherently racist, but argued that Saturday's events broke the law and were unfair to local residents.

Tapp called for additional officers, including support from other forces, to be mobilised quickly should Dover be targeted again, noting the port's critical role in handling around a third of the UK's trade in goods with the EU. A government spokesperson affirmed that the right to peaceful protest is fundamental to democracy, but condemned the conduct seen in Dover and the travel disruption it caused.