Rayner says masked far-right marches are intimidation, not normal protests

UK Communities Secretary Angela Rayner has condemned masked far-right marches associated with the self-styled “Danny Tommo”, saying they should not be treated as ordinary protests. Rayner said groups of predominantly masked men shouting in streets and blocking roads or transport hubs were intimidating local people. She argued that demonstrations designed to disrupt public highways or cordon off areas were unacceptable.

Daniel Thomas, who has brought nationalist protest groups together under the Patriot Platform name, was arrested and charged last week after allegedly using a blade to slash an inflatable dinghy in the Channel while a rescue worker was aboard. Masked and hooded anti-migrant activists linked to the movement have gathered in English coastal towns and ports. On one occasion, they blocked traffic entering and leaving Dover, according to the report.

Rayner also criticised social-media campaigns targeting the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. She said volunteers went to sea to save people at risk, regardless of their political views or the status of those attempting to cross the Channel. Her comments came after the deaths of a 10-year-old child and two women attempting to cross the Channel in small boats.

Rayner said public debate about asylum and people-smuggling should not lead to the dehumanisation of migrants or attacks on rescue volunteers. She distinguished between political arguments about migration policy and what she described as harassment of people carrying out lifesaving work. The supplied material does not include a response from Thomas or the protest groups to her remarks, nor does it report any new government restrictions on the demonstrations.