Home Office will not rule out more Gosport migrant landings

The Home Office has refused to rule out more small boat migrants arriving in Gosport, even after furious local protests and an £800,000 policing bill.

Earlier this month residents took to the streets against the undetected arrival of a small boat carrying asylum seekers. In the past six weeks three small boats have crossed the Channel from Normandy in France, twice landing in Hampshire. Hampshire Police racked up £800,000 dealing with protesters who clashed with officers as they voiced anger at the landings.

Gosport Borough Council passed a motion calling for the town to be excluded from any future small boat landings. A Home Office spokesman said the Government has established contingency plans for the new pattern of arrivals. “Where circumstances permit, the Government will seek to engage relevant local authorities and operational partners in advance. The Border Security Command works around the clock to protect our border and will continue to detain, check and process every small boat arrival.”

Officials insist Labour is working to cut crossings significantly. “Over 80,000 people with no right to be in the UK have been removed or returned since the election. Small boat crossings are down significantly, and we have just recorded the lowest number of summer arrivals since 2020.”

The Government has ruled out processing arrivals at Fort Blockhouse, the former military site in Gosport. Instead they will be taken to the main centre at Manston, Dover, for security, identity and health checks. Haslar Immigration Removal Centre in Gosport is still undergoing phased redevelopment to reach 600 beds. The first phase would house 130 detainees; the second would lift capacity to 600 across three-storey blocks.

Reform MP calls the landings a disgrace

Reform MP for Fareham and Waterlooville Suella Braverman told GB News the situation was a disgrace. “I fully expect more migrants I’m afraid to be arriving on the southern Hampshire coast in future, probably escorted by Border Force or by RNLI or by the Coast Guard, and that will be under Government orders. That is a disgrace, that is not what local people want and it’s not what they voted for.”

Britain cannot keep absorbing landings on quiet Hampshire shores while residents are left to pick up the pieces. Local consent matters. A town that has already seen undetected arrivals and heavy policing costs deserves a clear guarantee, not open-ended contingency talk.

In a further statement the Home Office said progress is being made, with crossings down on last year and June, July and August recording the lowest arrivals since 2020. “But we must go further, which is why we’ve signed a payment by results deal with the French to put 40 per cent more boots on the ground on French beaches.”

Whether that deal stops boats reaching Gosport remains the test. For now the Home Office will not close the door on further landings, the council’s exclusion call sits unanswered, and Haslar’s expansion continues. Southern Hampshire is watching the next boat.

Original source: GB News