Hundreds of protesters clash with police after mega-dinghy rescue in Portsmouth

Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in Portsmouth overnight during what was described as the second small-boat demonstration of the weekend. Many demonstrators, wearing face coverings and balaclavas, chanted “stop the boats” as they blocked roads to halt a coach of migrants heading from an RNLI lifeboat at Eastney Marina toward the Manston asylum processing centre in Kent. The action followed the arrival of 140 migrants in Hampshire after traveling to the UK on a single “mega-dinghy,” the first small-boat landing in more than a week, according to Home Office data. The government condemned “thuggish behaviour,” and police issued a dispersal order, warning noncompliance could lead to arrest.