Police have been told by the government they expect better intelligence gathering after masked far-right groups took to the streets at the weekend, the Guardian has learned, as the Kent force admitted mishandling warnings of potential trouble. Police in Kent on Saturday and then Portsmouth, Hampshire, on Sunday said they were taken by surprise when hundreds massed to oppose what they say is illegal immigration via small boats. Both protests are believed by police to have been far-right inspired, with evidence emerging that those behind them were determined to avoid detection.
Claims by Kent police since Saturday that they had no warning fell apart on Tuesday when the force admitted there were warning calls to police on Friday evening which were not acted upon. Kent police said: “The force had received non-emergency information late on Friday evening that a protest could take place in the town the following day. This information was not fully assessed.” The government’s view is that police actions once officers were faced by hundreds of men was reasonable.
But there is dismay at how Kent police explained their decision making afterwards, for instance viewing the gathered masked men outside the port of Dover as peaceful protesters, with one source describing it as “fucking crackers”. On Tuesday evening the prime minister, Andy Burnham, met police chiefs to discuss what had happened and preparedness for any further unrest. In Dover on Saturday, where hundreds of masked men in black converged undetected, police believe those taking to the streets used walkie-talkies to coordinate their actions.
Police on the ground report the masked men had lawyers’ phone numbers and cited public order case law and were well briefed on how far they could go: “They toed the line perfectly to avoid arrest”, one source said. In Hampshire police are investigating whether vehicles were deliberately left behind to block access roads. Police said the Dover gathering passed peacefully, while in Hampshire there were clashes, with the local Police Federation saying anger and violence was directed at officers.
The Guardian understands that part of Hampshire police’s investigation will examine whether the gathering of 200 people was meant to harass or intimidate. A spokesperson added they are also hunting for those behind the violence, conducting “a thorough review of the body-worn video” to look for offenders. The protests are believed to have been co-ordinated on closed social media networks and not publicly advertised.
Police are considering whether the threshold for warrants for covert tactics has been met, with one source warning that police were wary of criticism of using “police state tactics” against people portraying themselves as peaceful protesters motivated by a legitimate issue. The National Police Coordination Centre has intensified its monitoring. The action in Kent was organised by Daniel Thomas, a long-term associate of the far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson.
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