Ministers are refusing to rule out sending more asylum boats to south-coast towns, despite admitting “significant challenges” at a Portsmouth port where anti-migrant disorder erupted this month.
It comes after nearly 800 migrants in 10 boats crossed the Channel yesterday – a record number for this year.
Contingency plans are now in place further down the south coast from Kent, where most asylum seekers have been taken by rescuers and Border Force, as the Government scrambles to counter gangs launching boats from further down the French coast.
On 6 September, hundreds of anti-immigration protesters, including far-right activist Danny Tommo, descended on Eastney in Portsmouth after 120 migrants on a mega dinghy were brought ashore by authorities.
The Reform MPs who face losing their seats according to new poll
Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman are among four Reform UK MPs who would lose their seats if a general election were held tomorrow, fresh polling by YouGov shows.
Falling behind the Tories
Tory defector Danny Kruger and Sarah Pochin – who beat Labour in a 2025 by-election – would also be unseated, according to the leading UK pollster’s first large-scale election modelling since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister.
Although the party’s numbers of MPs would hugely increase, it would have fewer seats than the Tories overall, marking a significant fall when compared to last year’s polling.
How a Labour government could be formed
The poll predicts that Labour would be the biggest party in a hung parliament.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey recently ruled out forming a coalition with Reform or the Tories but stopped short of excluding a coalition with Labour.
However, to form a Parliamentary majority in this scenario, Burnham would also need to work with the SNP or Plaid Cymru.
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Reform expanding its operations
The polling comes as Reform is preparing a huge expansion of its operations around the country, targeting London, the South East, the South West and the East of England.
- Analysis of Reform job adverts by The i Paper suggests the party is pumping resources into areas where it wants to keep its high-profile Tory defectors.
There’s turmoil in the Liberal Democrats. And MPs are struggling for direction
Stagnant in the polls but still a potential kingmaker, the party’s at a crossroads – even its own members are asking what comes next.
Record number of assaults on Britain’s trains – what to know
Assaults on Britain’s railways have hit record levels, new figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have revealed.
The numbers
The data published on Thursday showed there were 13,464 reported assaults on people who were not railway workers between April 2025 and March 2026, an increase of 36 per cent compared to the previous year.
- 11,289 assaults on rail workers on mainline networks were also recorded, an increase of 12 per cent. This included 6,390 incidents of verbal abuse, 2,487 physical assaults and 2,412 threats.
Working to make railways safer
No-one on the railway should be subjected to violence, threats or abuse. We’re working with industry and our trade union colleagues to address work-related violence and harassment, including through recent guidance which sets out what we expect from rail employers.
Richard Hines, ORR’s chief inspector railways
Walkers reveals three new crisp flavours
Three new “gold” flavours of Walkers are now available for crisp lovers. The new snacks mark the brand’s biggest revamp in 80 years.
What are the flavours and how much are they?
The new flavours are black truffle, sea salt and olive oil and Somerset mature cheddar and onion.
Each pack is branded as “Premium Potato Crisps”.
The crisps come in 140g bags and can currently be bought for £2 each.
Where you can buy them
The entire range launched on Ocado officially today, but from October 12, they will be widely available in major UK supermarkets for a cheaper price of £1.50.
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Crowds attempted to block the road from the local RNLI station, where migrants landed, and seven police officers were assaulted as violence flared.
In a letter to Portsmouth council, read out at a council meeting this week, the government admitted the location presented “significant logistical challenges”. It also “had an impact on the surrounding community”.
But the Home Office and Department for Transport (DfT) said ministers could not give “an absolute guarantee” that Eastney – or nearby locations would not be used for small boat disembarkations.
In its letter, the Government said Eastney had been assessed as the safest available location to bring migrants ashore on 6 September before they were transferred for immigration processing.
The letter added that while the Government didn’t intend for Portsmouth to become a routine or designated location for small boat landings, more vessels could be brought ashore.
“Revised contingency arrangements have been put in place for crossings originating further west in the channel, with the objective of avoiding a repetition of the disruption experienced at Eastney,” the letter stated.
“However, ministers and operational commanders must retain the ability to respond lawfully and decisively to an emergency at sea.
“It would therefore not be responsible to give an absolute guarantee, excluding any particular location in every conceivable circumstance where life may be at immediate risk.”
The Government was now “carefully considering the lessons” from the Eastney incident – including the suitability of potential landing locations, access and vehicle movement, and local infrastructure, it said.
“The Government’s objective remains to disembark small boat arrivals in a safe and secure environment and to transfer them properly and promptly to immigration facilities in Kent for onward processing and, where appropriate, detention,” the letter added.
In Gosport, an aborted attempt to use the UK’s oldest military sea fort, Fort Blockhouse, to land 50 asylum seekers led to further protests on Tuesday night, with the migrants’ boat diverted to Dover.
Reform UK councillor Carl Inman, supporting a motion calling for Portsmouth to no longer be used as a landing place for migrant small boats, called for assurances that Gosport and Portsmouth would not be earmarked again.
“The facts before us are troubling. Approximately 120 people were brought ashore at Eastney location with no reception facilities, no welfare facilities, no medical infrastructure, and virtually no capacity for managing an operation of that scale,” he said.
“It is reached by a single access road surrounded by homes, local businesses, and sits adjacent to critical transport links.
“No reasonable person would design a major disembarkation operation around such a location if other suitable options were available. Yet, that is exactly what happened.”
However, the Liberal Democrat-led council voted 24 to 13 against the motion, proposed by Reform councillor George Madgwick.
‘It’s the totally wrong place’
Alan Scard, a Conservative councillor for Gosport Borough Council, warned the Government would “stir up so much trouble” if it proceeded with docking migrant boats in the area.
“You’ve got the Portsmouth Naval Base there. It’s the home of the Navy. Come off it,” he told The i Paper.
“[Fort Blockhouse] is totally the wrong place, and apparently there’s about 80% [of the facility] with no electricity at the moment. So that’s not going to be reliable.”
More than 600 local residents had responded to a council survey to oppose immigrant boats coming into local ports, he said.
Scard, alongside Gosport Conservative MP Caroline Dinenage, has also campaigned for a full planning inquiry into the Home Office’s application to expand the Haslar Immigration Removal Centre (IRC).
Haslar IRC closed in 2016, but is now being redeveloped and is due to reopen next year with 130 beds.
The Home Office has applied to increase the total capacity to around 600, using the Crown Development Route to bypass the council’s planning procedures.
Immigration centre expansion concern
Dineange attacked the Government’s “utterly derisory” attitude towards local residents and has raised concerns about the introduction of three-storey buildings that were not part of the original proposals.
Scard said local residents were now “smelling a rat” and accused the Home Office of “really bad” communication and a lack of transparency over their plans.
“It’s almost like they’re saying, well, whatever the local people say, to hell with that. We’re going to pass it through anyway,” he said.
A public planning inquiry into the Government’s proposals is expected to start on 17 November.
Overall numbers reaching England have fallen 42 per cent compared to this time last year.