Home Office refuses to rule out more migrant landings in Gosport

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 20 Oct, 19:08 · Archive

The Home Office has refused to rule out further Channel migrant landings in Gosport despite local protests.

Three small boats have crossed the Channel from Normandy in the past six weeks, with two landing in Hampshire. The arrivals have triggered hundreds of anti-migrant protests in Gosport. Hampshire Police accumulated an £800,000 bill dealing with the demonstrations, and Gosport Borough Council passed a motion calling for the town to be excluded from any future disembarkations.

The Home Office spokesman insisted there were no plans to process migrants at Fort Blockhouse, a former military site in Gosport, saying arrivals would instead be taken to the main processing centre at Manston near Dover. However, the Home Office refused to rule out the possibility of further landings in the area, saying it had 'established contingency plans' to deal with small boat arrivals in Hampshire. The spokesman said 'where circumstances permit, the Government will seek to engage relevant local authorities and operational partners in advance' but refused to comment further on 'operational processes or contingency plans'.

Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones has complained to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood about the cost of dealing with regular protests and asked that landings in the local area 'do not become a regular occurrence'.

How it is being reported

• Home Office refuses to rule out more Channel migrants arriving in Gosport despite furious protestsThe Home Office has refused to rule out the possibility of more small boat migrants landing in Gosport, despite mass local protest. Earlier this month, Gosport residents took to the streets to demonstrate against the "undetected" arrival of a small boat containing asylum seekers. In the past six weeks, three small boats have crossed the Channel from Normandy in France, twice landing in Hampshire. As a result of mass protests, Hampshire Police accumulated a bill of £800,000 in dealing with the protesters, who clashed with the authorities as they expressed their anger at the small boat…GB News · 20 Oct, 18:46
• Home Office refuses to rule out letting more Channel migrants land in Gosport despite furious protestsDinghies have crossed from Normandy three times in the past six weeks, with migrants brought ashore on two occasions in Hampshire, where they were met by hundreds of protesters.Daily Mail · 20 Oct, 14:28

In this story: Home Office · Gosport · Hampshire · Normandy · Manston · Gosport Borough Council · Shabana Mahmood · Donna Jones

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