BBC Breakfast viewers expressed outrage after journalist Duncan Kennedy revealed that anti-migrant protests had broken out in Gosport on Sunday evening (4 October), following a rescue operation that brought 149 migrants ashore.
"This was the scene in Gosport last night, with flares and scuffles marking an evening of protest," Kennedy said, showing footage in his report. "Police from a number of forces, including Kent, Devon and Cornwall, held the line at a former naval base, stopping around 150 anti-migrant demonstrators from getting inside. They wanted to prevent two RNLI boats, with groups of migrants onboard, from docking. The boats had been sent into the English Channel as part of a rescue operation with the French authorities.
Standoff and arrests
"The Home Office said 149 migrants were picked up off a single boat," the BBC presenter noted. "The standoff with protestors lasted into the early hours of this morning. They even put traffic cones and nails across the road to try to stop the migrants from leaving, but the coaches carrying the asylum seekers did eventually drive off, taking the migrants to a processing centre in Kent."
Concluding his report, Kennedy explained that this marked the second anti-migrant protest in the area in a matter of weeks, as demonstrators had gathered in Gosport not long before. At the time, the arriving migrants were diverted to Dover rather than disembarking.
Viewer reactions
"The overall number of small-boat crossings is down by more than 40% compared to the same period last year," the journalist clarified. "But, last night's operation shows that the smugglers are still getting their vessels through, making more protests almost certain."
Following the report, BBC Breakfast viewers voiced their frustrations on X. "Framing law-abiding citizens as the problem while ignoring the total collapse of border security is why nobody trusts the state broadcaster's coverage," replied one.
"Does this government want civil unrest? Seems to," added another. Meanwhile, a third tweeted, "Illegal migrants....you missed off the 'illegal' bit," and a fourth argued, "Not nearly enough. Must do better...." in relation to the amount of small-boat crossings taking place this year.
Political response
The anti-migrant protests, which took place near Haslar Marina, saw six people arrested. In a statement, Gosport MP and Conservative Caroline Dinenage criticised the Labour Government for failing to provide her with any "meaningful information" on how they were dealing with the incident.
"Gosport is not a safe or suitable location to disembark small boats. Our transport network is extremely constrained, we have no acute hospital, and our emergency services are already under pressure," she said on Sunday. "I contacted the Home Office Minister directly at around 1pm today and, incredibly, I have still had no reply or meaningful information about where this boat is going."
