Andy Burnham Condemns Anti Migrant Protests

Andy Burnham has accused anti-migrant protesters who took to the streets of Dover and Portsmouth at the weekend of representing “the politics of poison”.

The prime minister told a meeting of Labour MPs and peers that the party must “bring hope to a divided country”.

His comments are the strongest yet in response to the demonstrations against asylum seekers crossing the English Channel from France.

Large crowds of masked, black-clad men blocked road access to the Port of Dover on Saturday, in scenes which have been condemned by politicians, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

On Sunday night, another protest took place after around 140 migrants in a single dinghy were rescued in the English Channel as it headed for the Hampshire coast.

The protesters, many of them wearing masks, said they were determined to prevent authorities from transporting the migrants to the Manston processing centre in Kent.

They blocked traffic along the road leading away from Eastney Marina, with photos showing police carrying riot shields forming a line and protecting a number of coaches that were parked up.

Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), Burnham said: “There’s a lot at stake and it requires us to counter fear with positivity and hope. We have a responsibility in the times that we’re living in. It’s a solemn responsibility to prevent the politics of poison seeping into our streets.

“We are here to speak to the politics of hope and of positivity.”

He added: “We have to fulfil our historic mission all over again and bring hope to a divided country. To lift people and make them feel that things are possible. That we can make people’s lives better. Make them feel that politics can work.

“We can give people a sense of positivity again. We can change this country for the better. Never accept the narrative that there’s nothing we can do.”

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