Kent Police warned of Dover protests the day before, force says

Kent Police says it was made aware of the potential for protests in Dover the day before they took place but information "was not fully assessed". A large group of men dressed in black and wearing balaclavas blocked access to the Port of Dover on Saturday morning for several hours, with witnesses hearing them chanting "stop the boats". A spokesperson for the force said that, after reviewing its decision making, the information "may have allowed the force to consider its resourcing", but did not share what it was told. "This information would not have prevented the lawful protest from taking place, nor the disruption experienced by the town, port and wider community", it added. The force says it has asked the College of Policing to independently examine the processes involved, so that it can learn from its response. Officers had previously admitted not knowing about the protest in advance, leading to accusations of a failure in intelligence-gathering. The force had previously said the protest was "spontaneous", and they did not have any intelligence to suggest a demonstration was going to happen. The demonstrators told the BBC on Saturday they did not want to talk to the media, although one said "send them back" and another said "stop the boats" when approached. No arrests were made on the day of the Dover protest, Kent Police previously said. Although no boats arrived on the day of the Dover protest, eight did on Sunday, carrying 625 people, Home Office figures show. The day after the Dover protest, several officers were injured and vehicles damaged in Portsmouth at a demonstration sparked by the arrival of 120 migrants. Both protests have been linked to Danny Thomas, a long-term campaigner against migrants more commonly known as Danny Tommo.