U.K. government condemns anti-immigrant demonstrators at port city

Britain’s government condemned hundreds of protesters who blocked streets in the English coastal city of Portsmouth to try to stop the arrival of migrants from France.

LONDON — The British government on Monday condemned the “intimidating and thuggish behavior” of anti-immigrant demonstrators who converged on a port in southern England where migrants were brought ashore after crossing the English Channel.

Hundreds of protesters, many dressed in dark clothing and wearing masks, faced off with police in Portsmouth late Sunday in an attempt to prevent lifeboats from bringing the migrants to land. They then tried to block buses carrying the new arrivals to a processing facility for asylum seekers.

“The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder,” the government said in a statement.

The Portsmouth protest came a day after hundreds of masked anti-immigration protesters blocked roads leading to Britain’s busiest ferry port of Dover on Saturday, clogging traffic and disrupting travelers as well as cargo vehicles heading for France.

Both groups appeared to be led by Daniel Thomas, an ally of veteran far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson.