Border Force Takes Migrants to Dover After Dinghy Slashing and 38-Hour Voyage A 38-hour migrant dinghy voyage ended in Dover after an activist slashed the boat in the English Channel. Police are investigating the incident. London: A 38-hour voyage by 51 migrants in a small dinghy ended early on Tuesday when they were taken ashore at Dover, after a confrontation in which an anti-migrant activist slashed the dinghy in the English Channel while a French rescuer was on board. The incident, filmed at around 4pm on Monday, is being investigated by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary. Voyage Ends in Dover After 38 HoursThe migrants set off from Port-en-Bessin, north of Bayeux in Normandy, just before 10am on Monday. They spent 38 hours at sea before arriving in Dover after midnight. It is believed to be the longest duration of any voyage undertaken by small-boat migrants.Initially, the boat was expected to reach Gosport in Hampshire. However, it was rerouted to Dover. The Conservatives branded the operation a fiasco.Activist Slashes Dinghy in Channel IncidentThe activist, known as Danny Tommo and whose real name is Daniel Thomas, is a 37-year-old anti-migrant campaigner. He brought his boat alongside the dinghy after all migrants had been picked up by the RNLI. A French rescuer then stepped onto the empty dinghy to secure it, and Thomas sliced through one side of it.Thomas told the rescuer that he was on English territory and no longer in France. He then shouted at the Frenchman to get off the boat and return to his own vessel, repeating the instruction several times before sailing away.Thomas said he was heading towards Gosport, where a crowd of black-clad protesters from his group, Patriot Platform, were expecting the migrants to be taken ashore from lifeboats. Instead, the migrants were taken to Dover.Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said they are aware of a video circulating online relating to damage caused to a boat in the English Channel on the afternoon of September 22. A spokesman said enquiries are ongoing.Protests in Gosport and DoverFollowing reports that the dinghy would dock in Gosport, hundreds of protesters turned out in the town and in nearby Portsmouth. The demonstration dissipated after the boat was rerouted to Dover.Hampshire Police described some of those who remained in Gosport as hostile towards officers. They arrested six people for offences including careless driving, assaulting an emergency worker and aggravated trespass. Around a dozen protesters were seen in Dover as the migrants arrived, and officers closed nearby roads in anticipation.French Response and Political ReactionFrench authorities, who shadowed the dinghy across the Channel, said they decided not to intervene due to safety concerns. As tides took the boat back towards the French coast on Monday evening, it was so close to shore that another 10 to 15 migrants were able to board, it is claimed.Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the latest fiasco shows that the French are not even trying to stop the illegal immigrants boats in French waters and are instead escorting them to the UK. He added that border security has descended into chaos with migrants crossing at will over ever larger distances and in ever larger boats.Philp said the Government's claim to smash the gangs is laughable and their deal with the French is clearly not working. The Conservatives have a plan to end all accommodation and benefits for illegal immigrants and instead deport them on arrival, he said, adding that these farcical crossings would soon stop.The incident raised serious questions over the effectiveness of Labour's 662 million pound deal with the French to prevent crossings.Four French lifeboats plus the search-and-rescue tugboat Abeille Liberte, along with a French Navy helicopter, were scrambled to the 40ft dinghy's location on Monday. A spokesman for local rescue services said the boat was in a very bad way and very low in the water, with just a single small outboard motor to power it.The sea was calm and weather conditions were good, but the decision was taken to escort the boat without intervening, the spokesman added. The Abeille Liberte continued to follow the migrant boat on Tuesday morning and afternoon. At about 4.30pm, the migrants were transferred from their dinghy to two RNLI lifeboats. Half an hour later, they switched to Border Force's HMC Vigilant.