Police slow to respond to Dover protest, says council boss
Another compilation video from yesterday's fascist paramilitary 'storm' action in #Dover town and at the Port of Dover. #FarRight Some national security-related observations below.
Andy Scollick263The video starts with a Luton box van disgorging a contingent of paramilitaries dressed, in effect, in identical uniform with balaclava ski masks. NB. The "cpayne.com" on the box van back is actually "jcpayne.com", a commercial vehicle bodybuilders based in Aldridge, West Midlands. Nothing more.
Andy Walker232It would seem that this fascist operation fits a definition of terrorism much more closely than, say, old age pensioners holding placards.
bsiddall.bsky.social70They were just testing the water...seeing what they could get away with. It looks like they got away with everything. The next "protest" is no doubt being planned already.
sbarlster56If it looks like terrorism and feels like terrorism then… Let’s just let it happen? There must be 0% chance the police/security did not know this was happening.
Robert Campbell 🇬🇧🇪🇺🇺🇦🇬🇪41This must have cost real money too. "Follow the Money"
nromenzer.bsky.social37Find the guy who funding and financing those fascists and youll fix the problem
Mark Thompson73It would be interesting to see what would happen if a group of hundreds of dark skinned men turned up clad in similar outfits and stopped traffic how quickly the police would intervene then. My guess is in about 5 seconds. We do have "two-tier policing" it seems but it's the opposite way round.
Natacha46A very concerning THREAD about government and security forces failures over the Dover paramilitary action. It was thoroughly illegal and yet Andy Burnham let them get away with it because they were not trans, not protesting against global heating or holding Palestine flags.
M. Belanger44This is giving big Jan 6 vibes (without the defecation) If anything, more organized. England, meet your future version of ICE agents. This is how it starts.
Richard Delevan24OH LOOK. A SPONTANEOUS PROTEST WITH PEOPLE BROUGHT IN SECRET IN A WINDOWLESS LORRY WITH MATCHING UNIFORMS. Nothing to see here. I long for a liberal democratic state with sufficient capacity to deal with clear and present dangers to the liberal order. #AMITHEASSHOLE?
Ruth Watson9Fascist paramilitaries in England, with Tommy Robinson supporting them on social media Tommy Robinson, the 'English patriot' who went for a meeting with Elon Musk's dad in Russia a few weeks ago. How far would one have to dig to find foreign agents funding these fascists? bsky.app/profile/andy...
Panda7🤔 I wonder how many of their granddads were staunch union men . . .
Rev Peter W Nimmo6Interesting thread by a defence and security specialist
Champie5I dunno, many's the time I've gone for an innocent day out, bundled into the back of a luton van with a load of strangers, all wearing balaclavas.
Dr Karen Smith🪴🕷🦇🐇🐈 💚🇮🇪🎶🎭📽️🎞💙😷💉🕯️🦋🌻5Informative🧵 Really think it’s important to take such visible fash action seriously & demand gvt/police response but not allow fash to intimidate which is one of their aims Some seem to have come/returned by train in full regalia intimidating the public - what were Brit Transport Police doing?1/2
valerie.bsky.social4I've written to my MP complaining about the fact this march was allowed to proceed and asking him to raise it with the Government. Perhaps if enough other people do so, the Home Office will take notice.
The only reason senior figures in Reform have condemned the fascist protest in Dover is because they want to distance themselves from the ugly face of the xenophobic politics that they have legitimised. Stop giving them credit.
Mike D London29'Odd' to think this time last year they were welcoming Lucy 'set fire to all the hotels' Connolly onto their conference stage.
Sir Basil17100% "We disapprove of the thing our words on wedge issues were absolutely designed to manufacture"
cb24resident.bsky.social16Zero arrests! In 2021 #KentPolice arrested 39 climate activists who disrupted the same port for 2 hours! www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...
La Reine des Metaphores15It would still be good to hear something as strong from the actual PM - or even the Home Secretary. I'm pretty sure Keir would have been on the case by now.
Stephen Kinsella15I agree, but it would be easier to deny them credit and coverage if senior government figures had beaten them to it. 
Jean-Luc Picard14An yet Jenrick is all over the TV and radio this morning telling people that the female heckler who was viciously attacked at the Reform conference got what she asked for.
"Masked activists bring chaos to Dover in protest against migrants" "Trans activists show who they really are: a violent mob"
ᚅᚓᚃ ᚆᚐᚔᚏᚇᚑ ᚃᚆᚑ ᚇᚔᚄ119Also notice the "continued from page 1" on the story about the "trans activists", no sign of the masked men seizing Britain's busiest port on the front page, which you kind of think should be front page news
Aida44There is no way labour does not know that this is how you get nazis. I imagine they just naively think they will be able to control them after the ethnic cleanse
Marie Leanne Shrewsbury19Using chalk = mass intimidation.
Donna The Chicken11Well at least the 'activists' in Dover, and their treatment by the media have given us an ever-ready comparison to hold up every time they accuse trans people or other peaceful protesters of being 'violent/terrorists'...
Corinne Green4if we were a violent mob we'd probably be better off tbqh
Freda Wallace She/Ra3I hope in some future all this will be an exhibition in the peoples history Museum. That future has to be fought for.
Margot Robbie Rotten58br*tish "journalism" should be spoken of in the same way der sturmer is. this is because they are the same thing
Tristan Stewart-Robertson52"Protesters" Vs "mob". Trans people existing are considered worse than roving gangs of men in black hunting for anyone not white. And it seems that's exactly what the UK Labour govt wants.
Marcus 🏳️🌈🇧🇧26It’s very “Hurrah For The Blackshirts”
Mx Maddison Stoff9you can't do violence against inanimate objects????
Lua von Hresvelg, Yuri General (DEIDRE DID NOTHING WRONG) 🏳️🌈 🔞4Violence is when chalk. Peaceful protest is when violent assault.
Police are facing growing questions over how up to 500 masked activists dressed in black brought parts of Dover to a standstill on Saturday. Authorities have been accused of failure to act, intelligence failures and being ‘caught on the hoof’. www.ft.com/content/f244...
Kate Allen45Today the U.K. government said it ‘condemns the intimidating and thuggish behaviour and the disruption it caused’. The police have not commented further since saying yesterday that they had made no arrests at the ‘spontaneous protest’.
grinchw.bsky.social30It’s quite clear that the police have a certain empathy with far right protesters/thugs. They don’t like woke type of protestors plus who they know they can push around
Greg 🇨🇦🥁🎸14More likely they’re sympathetic. Like Proud Boys running around protected while protesting.
Ken Tindell12Then arrest them now. Plenty of evidence. Can pick up that vile walking stick wielding Reform candidate while they’re at it.
DavidW@cityhobo61.bsky.social11Just were has the Home Secretary been? It's a failing of intelligence & policing and she should eb carrying the can for that.
Mr. RB (UK) 💚🇪🇺🇺🇳🇺🇦11Was it just a load of off duty coppers? They all have access to black clothing & are easily led?
Will Jennings📉🗳️295Given that Tommo is now causing disruption over in Portsmouth you have to wonder what the police and intelligence services are actually doing.
elia ayoub200They’re this close to sieg heil-ing and they’re still being called activists
The Rude Pundit66I think the real question is how many of them are cops.
Mary Wombat60So. At least some of the media are questioning the totally supine police response to this. I admit, I'd normally object to people being arrested for protesting peacefully but since they set a precedent with climate change & pro-Palestinian demonstrators I'd like to see some consistency
Bonnicula | Vampire Vtuber ⚧51Gosh, where do you think all the police were
Dave Andress50Some have said they "Don't appear to give a shit."
Pookleblinky37Half the off-duty cops were probably among the masked fash
Eric Haywood19"Activists" is how you know they're white men
Lamentably Awake17Putting "activists" aside, it's clear that Labour just giving the fash a complete free pass is not acceptable to the British Establishment. They're going to have to arrest *someone* and who and how many they arrest is going to be a good insight into just how poor their intel on the fash is.
Good Ol' WT14Miley Cyrus is facing growing questions about whereabouts during Hannah Montana concert.
On reflection I’m considerably angrier about the lack of response from the government to yesterday’s blockade of the port of Dover than the policing, though I am very worried by what looks like a massive intelligence failure. Sometimes “disperse then scoop them up later” is a reasonable choice. BUT
Dr Jo Kershaw346Why hasn’t the government condemned this in the strongest terms? Why no reassurance to the public that this is being taken seriously, that they have no intention of letting organised fascist thugs shut down key infrastructure, and that we should expect arrests and charges to follow?
Yeah_Thatbloke70Absolutely. And where are the calls for Mahmood to resign for this massive intelligence and security failure?
chrissquire.bsky.social15Absolutely this. It feels like Labour are asleep at the wheel. Just sitting back and letting Tice and Farage lead the condemnation. Maybe they think that they are playing 4D chess and they can wait for voters to join the dots back to Farage and the other enablers? It's a 'brave' strategy (aka dumb)
johnw60.bsky.social12If Hope not Hate knew seems odd the police had no intelligence
@katiewhitemp.bsky.social I know this is ‘just’ social media commentary, but Bluesky is more left leaning generally. If the government are losing this audience it is a red flag.
Joni Baldry (she/her) 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈6It's bizarre. I saw a comment from a politician about the right to protest peacefully but these people were in uniform, they were a paramilitary outfit. That goes far beyond what is acceptable or even legal.
Edward21Particularly as Roger Gale was quoted saying they had been seen gathering in his constituency the previous night in preparation. They shouldn't have been allowed to even get to the Port, they should have been picked up en route.
Matt7“disperse then scoop them up later” would also be more defensible if there were any evidence to suggest that is what's happening.
Bonobobananas7It feels like this Labour Government is as compromised as the last one by foreign influences and corruption. Letting the BBC continually hand Reform a free pass and allow fascism to take hold is unforgivable. It really wouldn’t be difficult to come down on all this. @bengoldsborough.bsky.social
Jonny Deane3Fascist scumbags have been around forever doing awful shit, but the mainstream always condemned them. Made them the pariahs. Every time the mainstream now fails to do this makes the country a worse place. It's an absolute scandalous abdication of responsibility by the government.
I'm generally happy to give someone like Burnham a bit of time to get things in order but I'm already pretty impatient for an explanation why an octogenarian holding a small protest placard gets a criminal record but 200 people dressed as paramilitaries blockading Dover can just get the train home.
James Bottomley4Police appeared caught in the headlights, but perhaps behind the scenes their boss was being told by the Home Office not to confront them.
Justin4Too timid and scared to do anything about a group that isn't full of pensioners and Greenpeace vegans.
1marky.bsky.social1What’s it got to do with Burnham that the Police take no action? Bloody traffic lights are out on my road - shall I give Burnham a call?
Claire S (UK not USA)1The PA supporters holding placards were supporting a proscribed organisation, that's why they were arrested. Had their placards simply said Free Palestine they wouldn't have been. Those thugs weren't doing anything illegal but I bet they were and are being closely monitored.
Redkite Traveller6Burnham and Mahmood entirely failed on this
Andy Squibb3What is so strange about the 'patriots dressed in black' is their desire to conceal their identities with balaclavas etc. It's as though they're scared their employers will react, or more likely DWP might dock their benefit payments, if their identity is revealed. 🤷♂️
Oh, look. Hundreds of men in matching, all-covering black outfits and face veils completely blocking public spaces in Dover. I thought these guys were supposed to be against the burqa? If you're going to protest, at least try not to dress exactly like the culture you're terrified of. 💀
Mr. Spock 🖖72Also, top marks for tactical genius. They marched to the Port of Dover to "stop the boats." Lads, those are international ferries. People have paid £80 to go to Disneyland Paris. The only thing you "stopped" was Gary from Essex getting his family to a caravan park in France. Absolute heroes.
𝚁𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝙰𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗7This is out of control. The world is falling prey to these fascists and bigots, and it can't be allowed to continue. It's not patriotism. It's nationalism. It's not free speech. It's hate speech. They're not the defenders of the country. They're the fifth columnists, trying to destroy it.
Phil050pher5I am so exhausted by all of this. It doesn't help that I am literally sick (I may have walking pneumonia; waiting for a verdict from our wretched health care system, if I can afford the tests). I will vote in November. It's my one little blow against the Evil Empire.
We're Not Home4I guarantee that they won't do that in the South. Too damn hot. But, they're stupid so you never know
That's not what I meant!4Billy's joined the National Front. He always was a little runt. He's got his hand in the air with the other cnuts. You've got to humanize yourself.
Beague (aka Slug)2They are a confused bunch aren’t they? They love their own free speech but they hate those with different views having free speech. They want to protect women and they also like to assault women.
Lars S. Sørensen11"Spontaneous and non-organized event" - according to Kent Police.
Loubielou325Pathetic wannabe #ICEholes More #NigelFuckingFarage emulating his pal #BastardTrump. These people are repellant, ignorant and not representative of public opinion, however much they try to make you believe they are.
😒Hundreds of protesters, dressed in black and wearing face coverings, blocked roads and were heard chanting "stop the boats". Traffic was stopped from going in and out of the port, with the government saying it condemned "the behaviour in Dover”. www.bbc.com/news/article... #Pinks
Midas Eye5Condemnation is not good enough. Old age pensioners have been arrested for protesting a confirmed genocide in Gaza.
Goose the Moose5All masked because who wants to take the chance of becoming the bigot poster child that the world sees and remembers? These thugs still want their winter holidays. They just don't want to see the 'natives' coming to THEIR shores...
flyfella.bsky.social4These cosplay manboys don’t want to show their faces because they’ll lose their benefits.
Chris Gough1Well, they stopped the ferries.
Dover’s MP, Mike Tapp on the masked thugs who co-ordinated blocking Dover: “there’s no way that wasn’t co-ordinated..we know that laws were broken because they were blocking the roads &wearing face coverings.” Kent police made no arrests… www.kentonline.co.uk/dover/news/l...
Sylvia15Mike Tapp MP who has posted more racist remarks on Twitter than your average Reform councillor is suddenly upset that the far right are on his doorstep🤔
John Rob4Why exactly, are Kent Police referring to this clear as day coordinated far-right operation, as "spontaneous?"
Bilodea2Time for the Chief Constable of Kent police, Tim Smith, to answer some reasonable questions
Pete Hudson 🇬🇧🇨🇵🇪🇺🏴🇮🇪🇳🇱🏴🇮🇳 #FBPE #BanX #UKPR #UK_JoinEU2If two tier policing is a thing, then this is it. Policing that favours the right and their thuggery over the left and peaceful protest.
New ranking of responses to the paramilitary racist group blocking Dover port, most disapproving first, is: Richard Tice [explicit ref to paramilitary nature] Telegraph editorial Nigel Farage Local MP Mike Tapp [we are on it, go home] Andy Burnham [said nothing] Rupert Lowe [approves]
Tony Yates25Not congratulating the far right, here, as they have their factional reasons for doing it [the black shirts are on their turf], but it's remarkable that Labour thinks its own factional reasons mean it's ok to say nothing, or that even in govt it can't think beyond those factional interests.
Gildy Stern (Fully Rested)1You're really chasing those votes in the top BlueSky influencer poll aren't you? 😊
