At approximately 7:30 this morning, hundreds of black-clad members of Patriot Platform, a far-right vigilante unit, blockaded roads in Dover. They marched north east off the Limekiln roundabout, through the streets of Dover to the train station chanting “stop the boats” and “I’m England ‘till I die”.
The group’s founder Daniel Thomas (AKA Danny Tommo) posted that this gathering was the group’s “warning”. He also released a video from outside Western Jet Foil, a facility in Dover used to process incoming asylum seekers, showing masked men spraying graffiti reading “Blood is on your hands”.
In a recent interview with Dan Wooton, Thomas explained the group’s purpose simply: “What we are looking at here is taking control of this country”. The intimidatory tactics seen in Dover seem like the first step in the plan.
The Patriot Platform is a network of men founded by Tommy Robinson’s right hand man Daniel Thomas. Launched in June, it held its first meeting on 19 July at Black Dam and Crabtree Nature Reserve, Basingstoke, and a second recruitment day on 22 August in a country park in Warwickshire.
The group unites a web of smaller localised anti-migrant groups into a single body. Current members hail from the Kent Patriots, Watford Patriots, South London Patriots, South-East Patriots, Essex Patriots, Watford Patriots, North-West Patriots, Surrey Patriots and Chertsey Patriots to name a few.
Patriot Platform is a self-professed Christian “army of patriots” formed to “reclaim our borders, restore order and send a clear message: Britain belongs to the British”. In theory, the group functions as a vigilante unit to combat immigration and revive Christian values, ready to spring into action across the country at Thomas’ word.
As with many anti-migrant vigilante groups in the UK, they claim to aim to “protect women and children”. However, in August, HOPE not hate revealed the violent history of key members of the group, including records of violence against women.
Thomas has said on record that the group’s aim is to “take control of the United Kingdom”, and during his interview with Wooton, explained that the Patriot Platform is comparable to the English Defense League. Thomas is keen to emphasise the Christian character of his movement: “We’re doing this under Christianity… we’re not doing this with thugs”. This seems hard to believe when hundreds of balaclava-clad members roam the streets.
The intimidatory scenes in Dover today are unsurprising given Thomas’ own criminal background, which predates his political activism.
In 2016, he pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping and was sentenced to two years in prison after taking part in an armed attempt to abduct a man during a drugs-related dispute.
In late 2025 and early 2026, he collaborated with Raise the Colours to run a series of trips to Calais in which he and Ryan Bridge filmed asylum seekers and hounded the charity workers assisting them. Their activities earned them a ban from France altogether.
In the following months, he became involved in direct action around Dover, targeting migrants arriving by small boat. In April, he was arrested for aggravated trespassing and banned from Dover, Ramsgate and Folkestone. In August, he pleaded guilty to entering a restricted area of Dover’s harbour without lawful authority; he denied five further charges, including alleged threatening and racially abusive behaviour, which remain allegations rather than convictions.
Today’s disruption shows the growing trend of anti-migrant vigilantism coming to a head in the public eye. Patriot Platform, and the smaller groups united by it, promote their ideology on the basis that they are providing a public service in the form of security in an ever-more dangerous Britain.
In reality, Thomas has little hope of persuading others that Patriot Platform is a safety-first community group when its members march through the streets wearing balaclavas and have been exposed for their violent criminal records.
Today, we could see Patriot Platform for what it is: a far-right network of men happy to intimidate and inconvenience an entire town for what was effectively a publicity stunt.
Prefer to listen? Click the play button to hear the audio version. Harry Shukman Reform UK is staffed by oddballs and enigmas, but none odder…
