Donna Jones, Hampshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, is seeking £800,000 from the Home Office to cover recent policing expenses. This demand follows a series of protests in Portsmouth and Gosport that have significantly impacted local emergency resources since September.
The £800,000 price tag for Hampshire's small boat policing
The rising costs in Hampshire reflect a growing trend of civil unrest surrounding Channel migrant arrivals.. Since September 6, when hundreds of protesters blocked roads in Portsmouth to stop coaches carrying migrants, the local authorities have faced increasing pressure to manage both the landings and the resulting demonstrations. as the report states, these events have placed a heavy financial and operational burden on police resources throughout the Hampshire and Isle of Wight region.
These tensions have manifested during several high-profile incidents, including a landing in Gosport where 149 migrants arrived via RNLI lifeboats. The scale of these operations, combined with the need to manage large crowds, has driven the total policing cost to the current £800,000 figure cited by Jones.
Prison sentences for protesters in Portsmouth and Gosport
Legal consequences have already been handed down to several individuals involved in the recent unrest . For example, Del Somerville, 42, was sentenced to two years in prison for violent disorder, while Deano Ryan and Justin Dixon received suspended sentences for similar charges.. According to the report, these incidents involved aggressive tactics, including the use of human blockades and the placement of glass on roads to immobilize support vehicles.
The violence has also targeted emergency workers directly. During the most recent landing in Gosport, authorities made 12 arrests, which included charges for assaulting a police officer and an emergency worker. The report notes that officers have frequently been met with abuse and filmed by protesters during these deployments.
The harassment of RNLI volunteers and their children
Beyond the direct confrontations with police, the social fallout of these crossings has reached the families of emergency responders.. During a debate at Portsmouth City Council, officials heard that children of RNLI lifeboat volunteers have faced bullying at school because of their parents' involvement in sea rescues. This social pressure has created a volatile environment for those tasked with life-saving duties.
The report also mentions that some RNLI volunteers have been forced to stop wearing their badges in public to avoid confrontations with anti-migrant protesters. In one instance, a Portsmouth lifeboat station was even forced to close temporarily due to threats, while crew members reported seeing suspicious vehicles parked near their station.
Will the Home Office reimburse the £800,000?
The Home Office has not yet responded to the formal request for reimbursement sent by Donna Jones. It remains unknown if the government will commit to covering the full £800,000 or if they will agree to fund all future deployments related to small boat crossings. Furthermore, there are unanswered questions regarding the level of cooperation with France, specifically whether additional French resources will be deployed to the Normandy route to prevent these landings from becoming a regular occurrence.
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