Patriot Platform mobilisations in Dover and Portsmouth – Briefing for communities

On the morning of Saturday 5 September, hundreds of men dressed in black and wearing balaclavas descended on the port of Dover, blocking roads and causing widespread chaos. The following evening, in Portsmouth, a slightly smaller crowd attempted to block a dinghy of people seeking asylum from reaching the UK and then, having failed in that, blockaded roads for several hours. 

Both actions were organised and coordinated by Patriot Platform, a relatively new group on the anti-migrant far-right scene. This briefing for community groups looks at what happened over the weekend, what it tells us about how the far right are mobilising, and how communities can respond. 

Dover:

At around 07:30 on the morning of Saturday 5 September, a group of an estimated 400-500 men wearing all black, with their faces covered by balaclavas, blocked streets opposite an asylum processing centre in the Kent coastal town of Dover. 

The mobilisation had been planned in advance, with the men arriving to a nearby village the previous night, presumably making the short drive into Dover early the next morning. Our latest information suggests that residents of the village had made a report to local counter-terror police the night before, after overhearing a group of men in a pub talking about driving into Dover to “attack Muslims.” Multiple reports of illegal parking by the men were also raised the evening before the mobilisation, but no action was taken. Further details about this aspect of the story can be found here.

The men blocked roads in Dover for several hours, causing tailbacks of up to four miles and disruption for people transiting through the port. 

No arrests were made.

Portsmouth:

On the evening of the following day, Sunday 6th September, a further mobilisation took place around 140 miles west, in the Hampshire coastal town of Portsmouth. The mechanics of this mobilisation were distinct from that of the previous day – on Sunday evening, a smaller group of men gathered on the beach at around 7pm and attempted to block a boat carrying people seeking asylum from coming to shore. The boat was carrying around 140 people, and is thought to be the largest such boat ever to come to shore at Portsmouth. 

Upon further analysis, we now know that Tommo and PP were using a platform called ‘Marinetraffic’ during the protest to work out where they were on the coast, and then whether lifeboats had left the area – they were tracking the lifeboats that had picked them the people seeking asylum, not the small boat vessel itself. 

This mobilisation was much less planned than the Dover blockade, and chaotic scenes followed. The group’s leaders, who were livestreaming their activities, published an online callout for more people to join. In response, around 150 people joined, some 30% of them dressed in black and covering their faces with balaclavas. Those who joined later were blocked from getting to the beach by a police line, and instead formed a blockade around several coaches, in an attempt to stop the coaches from transporting people seeking asylum to Home Office processing centres. It is not known whether there were people seeking asylum onboard the coaches when they were being blockaded. 

During this standoff, around 40 men also remained in the water for hours to avoid arrest. The main organiser, Daniel Thomas (aka Danny Tommo) claimed that “the police can’t touch you in the sea,” and threatened to drown himself if police approached him. 

After an hours-long standoff, during which it is understood batons and synthetic pepper spray were used, a Section 14 dispersal order was enforced, and the men gradually left the scene. Again, it is our understanding that no arrests were made at the scene.

Background on Patriot Platform: 

Patriot Platform is a relatively new group on the UK far-right anti-migrant scene. Their first public meeting was held in mid-June, attracting a few hundred men. It is led by a man called Daniel Thomas – there is more detail on him in the next section.

The Patriot Platform describes itself as a “Christian patriotic army,” and is a loosely affiliated network of local anti-migrant vigilante groups, brought together by Thomas. The idea is for Patriot Platform to be a group of men who are able to mobilise quickly. 

In contrast to many of the most active far-right anti-migrant groups, which do online outreach and make their actions public ahead of time, Patriot Platform seems to organise privately. It appears to have a cell-based structure, with information passed leader-to-leader. In some respects it appears more similar to football hooligan gangs than traditional far-right groups in terms of its organising structure. 

Background on Daniel Thomas, lead organiser:

Daniel Thomas, aka Danny Tommo, is originally from Portsmouth. He formerly served as Tommy Robinson’s bodyguard, and has been his right-hand man since 2018. They have a close relationship, with Tommo claiming that Robinson has offered the Patriot Platform the “best legal representation possible”. 

Thomas is experienced in this world, and may prove able to maintain discipline among group members and keep planned mobilisations secret. However, he also has a track record of starting projects and seeing them melt away to nothing. This is his third project of 2026 – a previous project saw him pledge to get 1000 men out to Calais, but only manage to muster 12. 

Police response: 

As above, we believe that Kent Police received forewarning of the Dover mobilisation, but failed to take action. This failure must be fully investigated and lead to concrete action.

In general, police have treated this activity as “peaceful protest” rather than recognising it for what it is: anti-migrant vigilante activism designed to intimidate people. Donna Jones, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight – responsible for policing in Portsmouth – went so far as to tell the BBC that the “peaceful protest” in Hampshire was “a real wake-up call to the Government that the British people are fed up with the lack of control of our borders,” directly parroting much far-right rhetoric about the event. 

By misconstruing mobilisations like those launched by Patriot Platform this past weekend as simply good-faith “peaceful protest,” police (and much of the media) risk severely underestimating the threat the group poses.

Government response:

The events of the past weekend were the first real test of the Burnham government’s approach to far-right activity. The response so far has gone through various iterations, becoming slightly bolder following events in Portsmouth. However, in line with the response from police, much of the communications coming out of No. 10 have unhelpfully focused on “legitimate concerns” and defending the right to protest. These are not concerned locals exercising the right to peaceful protest – significant numbers are seasoned far-right activists who are members of established groups and take part in strategic, organised activity.

Likely focus of Patriot Platform going forward:

Patriot Platform’s activity so far has focused on disrupting infrastructure relating to migration, rather than attacking communities directly. However, we believe there is a risk they will also seek to mobilise quickly in response to trigger events. Much of the group’s online content has focused on protecting women and girls – if there is a trigger event relating to this we may be able to expect them to respond. The group has also ‘offered its services’ to the residents of a village close to a proposed large-scale asylum accommodation site in Oxfordshire, with Thomas saying he wants to send “5-10,000 men…to the rescue of a small town.”

Until and unless authorities are able to get a handle on the situation, we may see continued localised activism from smaller groups that are part of Patriot Platform – much of this is likely to be concentrated in the south coast, but there may also be action all over the country. 

The mobilisations in Dover and Portsmouth, which brought together lots of different groups from different locations, can be seen as Patriot Platform testing the water. We may see further similar actions down the line, bringing together large numbers of men either in a planned action or in response to a trigger event. 

How do we respond?

The images coming out of Dover and Portsmouth over the weekend were really frightening – by design. While it’s a really worrying time, and there’s lots that needs to be done, please also make sure you take time away when you can, and do whatever helps keep you grounded.

In terms of an immediate response, we recommend that organisations take this moment to review their physical and digital security procedures. We have recently updated our safety and security resources, so make sure you take a look at these. Reviewing digital security measures is particularly key, given that in the aftermath of events in Portsmouth a number of RNLI volunteers involved in saving lives at sea have been attacked online, and their personal details shared. 

If there is a group in your area that you are concerned about, or if you would like background information about people you believe are active in the far-right scene in your local area, please contact us by emailing [email protected].