Hundreds of protesters, some masked, clashed with riot police in Portsmouth overnight in the second small boats demonstration of the weekend.
They chanted “stop the boats” as they blocked roads for hours in an attempt to disrupt a coach of people being taken to Manston asylum processing centre in Kent. Many had their faces covered and wore balaclavas.
The landing point was further west than most small boat arrivals and officials are concerned smugglers are starting to target new routes across England’s south coast, with craft launched from a wider stretch of the French shoreline.
What happened?
In an interview with , Moshiri said she has been diagnosed with an incurable type of blood cancer.
What is polycythaemia vera (PV)
PV thickens the blood by causing bone marrow to continuously produce red blood cells.
What are the risks?
This increases the risk of blood clots, which can cause stroke, heart attack or deep vein thrombosis.
The symptoms
Symptoms can include headaches, confusion, dizziness and blurred vision.
What treatment did she receive?
Her treatment involved a procedure called a , where almost a pint of blood is removed through a vein about twice a month to reduce the red blood cell concentration.
Immunotherapy treatment reduced the frequency of Moshiri’s venesections but initially came with “horrendous” side effects including insomnia, headaches and itching.
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Working through treatment
I was working 14-hour days, constantly on air, constantly having to think on my feet
Moshiri worked throughout her treatment, including leading the BBC’s coverage of the death of Pope Francis from Rome.
She said that although “adjusting to a different life” is challenging, a future “punctuated by hospital appointments and loads of medication” to deal with the disease is better than the alternative.
How UK’s first ‘super-university’ can tackle Neets crisis
The head of the UK’s first “super-university” has said that merging two universities can help reduce the number of people not in employment, education or training (Neet).
A new ‘super-university’
What is it?
The newly formed London and South East University Group (Lase) is now the third largest university in the UK.
How big is it?
It contains over 50,000 students across four campuses in London, Medway and Kent.
Which universities merged?
The universities of Kent and Greenwich legally merged to form Lase last month.
What is the Neets crisis?
- 1In April to June, an estimated 981,000 people aged 16-24 in the UK were classed as Neets.
- 2This represented a fall of 30,000 compared with the first quarter of the year.
- 3However, the figure is still 30,000 higher than a year ago, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The role of ‘super-unis’
It’s a real opportunity for us address the very people that the Government’s worried about
Lase chief executive Professor Jane Harrington said the merger will help the universities deal with growing operational costs and provide more accessible learning pathways to better address the needs of the regions in a way they could not on their own.
How will Lase work?
- Kent and Greenwich universities will still operate as distinct academic entities within the group.
- They retain their current names and students still apply to and graduate from the institution they choose.
- The group will now be able to offer subjects that they could not before when they were separate entities.
- Students will also be able to use libraries and access wellbeing services across campuses.
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What strain are universities facing?
Higher education providers in the UK have been facing increasing financial pressures, with MPs on the Education Committee warning earlier this year that there is a “real risk” a university in England could close due to insolvency for the first time.
The Office for Students told the committee it feared 24 providers were at risk of becoming insolvent and closing in the 12 months from November last year.
More ‘super-universities’ to come?
Lase is writing up a “blueprint” for the Department for Education to work as a “model” for a group structure which other universities would be able to use.
In May, King’s College London and Bedford-based Cranfield University announced plans to merge in August 2027.
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EES checks resume – three ways to avoid border delays
A loophole allowing countries to pause the EU’s new border checks has ended, sparking concern that the travel chaos reported earlier in the summer may return.
EES border checks set to resume
EU border checks are set to start again in full force from Monday, 7 September, as member states’ rights to waive Entry/Exit System (EES) checks during times of maximum stress comes to an end.
While EES is unavoidable, and there is no way to skip the queue entirely, there are some ways to alleviate the stress of border check delays.
What is the EES?
- EES requires British passport holders and other third-country nationals to register biometric data when entering or exiting the Schengen area.
- Applying to 29 countries across Europe, excluding Ireland and Cyprus, the system caused has widespread delays since its introduction in April.
- Until now, the registration could be temporarily suspended by border officials when queues were too long to manage.
- But despite objections from some member states, this loophole has now expired, leaving holidaymakers facing the possibility of more significant delays.
How can you avoid delays
- 1Travel outside peak times – even the busiest airports, like Palma and Lisbon, were quieter later in the summer.
- 2Skip duty free – going straight to the border control desk will allow you to see how busy it is.
- 3Pre-register for Sweden and Portugal – currently applying only to Sweden and Portugal, the Travel to Europe app allows users to pre-register, reducing the information needed at border control to just fingerprint scans.
Go to passport control ASAP
A spokesperson for Abta, a UK travel agent trade association, recommended passengers go to passport control as soon as possible after getting through security.
It follows reports earlier this summer of long delays and some flights setting off while several passengers were still in the long border control queues.
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What happened in Portsmouth?
Around 140 migrants were brought to shore in Hampshire after travelling to the UK on a “mega-dinghy” which had departed from the Normandy coast and was at sea for roughly 10 hours.
An estimated 500 protesters gathered, and clashed with riot police on Sunday night, vowing to prevent migrants leaving the port. Footage showed some chanting “send them back” as police officers with shields raised tried to maintain order.
In another video shared online by George Madgwick, leader of Reform UK in Hampshire, coaches were seen waiting to take the asylum seekers from an RNLI lifeboat at Eastney Marina to Manston.
Some demonstrators filmed themselves following white vans carrying the migrants up a motorway towards Dover in the early hours of Monday morning.
The dinghy is thought to have made one of the longest journeys of any small boat, with landings as far west as Hampshire rare. It was the first crossing in more than a week.
Hampshire Police said a group of around 200 anti-migration protesters left Portsmouth at about 4am.
Several police, coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged during the disturbances, and a handful of police officers were treated at the scene for injuries, none of which were serious.
A police spokesperson said no arrests have yet been made, but an investigation to identify offenders responsible for any assaults to officers, criminal damage to vehicles or other offences has been launched.
It follows a protest on Saturday when black-clad, masked men blocked roads in Dover.
Who is behind the protests?
Some of the demonstrators at Portsmouth were dressed in black and wore face masks – similar to the Dover incident.
Daniel Thomas, a former bodyguard for far-right activist Tommy Robinson, live-streamed himself joining the protest in Portsmouth and exhorting others to prevent the asylum seekers from leaving the area.
“We need a road blockage at the Eastney entrance of Portsmouth,” he said. “Block the entrance of Eastney, completely and utterly, get the cars in the road. Take the keys out, and make sure none of the cars can be moved.”
He and others tried to approach the coaches via the beach but were prevented by a line of police which was later reinforced with riot officers.
A day earlier Thomas had claimed credit for the protest in Dover. However, there were to the UK that day – the only vessels disrupted in Dover were ferriearrying Britons away on holiday.
Ministers and local politicians condemned the actions of the protesters, which brought Dover “to a standstill”.
Robinson claimed on X that the protesters, some of whom spent several hours standing knee-deep in the sea, metres from the beach, were “blocking invader boats”. He shared video of police who were apparently pushing back the crowd in order to clear the road.
Hampshire Police said a dispersal order was in place until Monday evening, meaning anyone who failed to comply could be arrested.
Why is Portsmouth important?
The protest in Portsmouth put emergency services under pressure, with officers drafted in from across the country, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight’s police and crime commissioner (PCC) said.
Donna Jones, the Conservative PCC, added that Portsmouth was “not set up” to become a processing site for migrants, who are usually taken to Dover by Border Force or RNLI after being picked up at sea.
Jones told BBC Radio 4’s : “My big concern now is that Portsmouth does not become a destination of choice for people traffickers. We have hundreds of miles of coastline across southern England.
“If Dover is no longer the destination of choice and instead there is going to be a spread across southern England this is a significant issue for the Government.”
The mega-dinghy had been launched in the Bay of the Seine, France – about 170 miles (273km) from Calais, where such craft are usually launched. The vogage would have covered about 75 miles (120km).
It is not clear why the migrants were taken to Portsmouth last night, but going to Dover would have meant several more hours at sea.
What has the response been?
The Government “condemned” what it called the “ intimidating and thuggish behaviour” by some of the protesters.
A spokesperson added: “The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder. We thank the emergency services who are working to safely manage this situation.”
Conservative MP for Isle of Wight East, Joe Robertson, said: “Extremely concerning to see an illegal migrant crossing this far west.
“We don’t know if this migrant boat was headed for the Isle of Wight, but I’ll be contacting the Home Office first thing. We need to know exactly what happened and if new routes are being used for mega-dinghies by people smugglers.”
Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader, said: “This week, Andy Burnham struck an agreement for 45 more officers on French beaches. Today, a boat launched from Baie de Seine, 170 miles from Calais, arriving on the beaches of Hampshire for the very first time. This is a joke.”
The party’s economic spokesman, Robert Jenrick claimed: “The invasion comes to Portsmouth. Home of the Royal Navy. Reform will end this humiliation.”
Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe posted on social media that “every single migrant” who arrived on the boat should be “sent home”, and said they were “invading Portsmouth”.
In June, The i Paper reported on Thomas’s plans to cause disruption at Dover. However, it is not clear if he personally took part in Saturday’s protest.
Thomas was arrested in July after he filmed himself confronting Port of Dover staff, and was banned by local police from entering the area.
The former private schoolboy who now goes by the name “Danny Tommo” recently launched the Patriot Platform, an anti-immigration group billed as “the resistance standing against the downfall of the United Kingdom”.
It has been described by the campaign group Hope Not Hate as a “far-right vigilante unit”.