Small boat arrivals in the English Channel have reignited tensions over asylum seekers in Britain after 781 people reached the UK in a single day, while a protest organiser was arrested after allegedly slashing an inflatable boat.
Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, was detained on suspicion of destroying a boat and endangering personal safety after the incident off the English coast. Police said an emergency responder was still on board when the vessel was damaged.
Thomas shared video of his actions online. He was being held in custody in Basingstoke, prompting right-wing activists including Tommy Robinson to call for supporters to gather outside the town’s police station and demand his release.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has described the Channel crossings as an “invasion” and urged demonstrations at hotels housing migrants. He has previously been convicted of assault and was jailed for seven months in 2024 after breaching a High Court injunction banning him from repeating false claims about a Syrian refugee.
Protests follow beach landings
The latest confrontation followed demonstrations after two small boats landed on beaches near Portsmouth, avoiding Border Force surveillance in the Channel. Six people were arrested during protests on Tuesday, with three later charged.
Hampshire Police charged Shannon Dodds, 32, with two counts of assault, alleging that she attacked an emergency services worker. Sally Pearson, 31, was charged with a racially aggravated public order offence and assaulting an emergency worker, while Toby Matthews, 33, was charged with assaulting an emergency worker.
Most inflatable boats attempting the crossing are intercepted at sea by Border Force officers, who transfer those on board to UK vessels and take them to a detention centre in Dover.
But on Wednesday, asylum seekers rushed on to 10 boats from beaches in France, with authorities confirming that 781 people arrived in the UK. A further 154 people arrived on three boats on Tuesday, while 150 crossed on three boats on Monday.
Footage filmed by an English photographer showed one man wading through the waves towards an inflatable boat while carrying a young child wearing a life jacket. The child appeared to go limp after being hit by the waves, and the man left the child floating beside the boat as he tried to climb aboard.
French rescuers quickly lifted the child from the water and placed them on a surf-ski. One rescuer appeared to try to keep the man with the child, but he remained with the other asylum seekers.
The increase in arrivals has fuelled calls for further anti-migration protests, despite the UK Government’s claims that it is curbing the flow. The issue has become one of the most divisive in British public life.
