Right-wing spook in Dover

Daniel Thomas at the anti-refugee action of the right-wing extremist “Patriot Platform” on September 6th in the English harbor town of Dover.

The residents of Dover, the town with the white cliffs on the English coast of the English Channel, were faced with a ghostly sight on the Saturday before last: In the early hours of the morning, around 150 men wearing balaclavas and dressed in black jumped from trucks and blocked access to the Dover ferry port. This is the arrival point for the majority of refugees, who cross in small boats from Calais in France and are then taken to reception centers. The masked men called for a stop to the admission of all asylum seekers in Great Britain and shouted: "Stop the boats" and: "Christ is the King." Otherwise, the men hardly interacted with annoyed drivers and the overwhelmed police. This did not end the blockade for hours until the men suddenly withdrew again.

The number of refugees crossing the English Channel by boat has fallen by over 40 percent compared to last year. But on the British right this remains an issue with great potential for agitation. The masked people were members of the “Patriot Platform,” a right-wing extremist group that was only founded in May. Its founder and leader is Daniel Thomas, also known by his nickname Danny Tommo. He is an old protégé of the right-wing extremist activist Tommy Robinson alias Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

The “Patriot Platform” around the right-wing extremist Daniel Thomas maintains close ties to Christian nationalists in the USA.

With his action in Dover, however, Thomas pursued a different strategy than his former ally. In June he said in a video that the violent racist riots in Southampton and Belfast a few days earlier had been a tactical mistake: "We have to be a little smarter. Good men and women can no longer take part in the fight because they are in prison.”

Instead of protests that are arranged spontaneously via social media, Thomas would like to see a more organized approach. His followers should also avoid violence and vandalism. The actions of the “Patriot Platform” appear to be at least partly inspired by road blockades as part of climate protests. The black mask was probably adopted by left-wing autonomous groups from continental Europe.

The “patriots” around Thomas claim that they want to protect British women and children from criminals who have arrived illegally. However, like many British right-wing extremists, Thomas has already been in trouble with the law himself. Ten years ago he was sentenced to two years in prison for attempted kidnapping. At the time, Thomas and his accomplices had attempted to kidnap a man who they mistakenly believed had stolen £10,000 worth of drugs from them.

Now Thomas says he has turned to Christianity since his conviction and attends church weekly. However, his devotion to religion could also have something to do with the fact that the “Patriot Platform” has close relationships with Christian nationalists in the USA and, according to the BBC, solicits donations in this milieu.

Thomas’s call for non-violence didn’t go far either. Just one day after the blockade in Dover, another action by the “Patriot Platform” took place in Portsmouth, further west. A boat carrying 120 refugees had crossed the Channel via a longer and more dangerous route from Cherbourg and had been towed to Portsmouth harbor by British sea rescue. Buses that were supposed to take the refugees from there to a reception center in Dover were held up by Thomas' right-wing extremists until the early hours of the following Monday. When police broke up the gathering after nine hours, Thomas' followers responded with violence. Seven officers were slightly injured and police and coast guard vehicles were damaged.

In the livestream you could watch how an excited Thomas bragged to police officers about his exploits in Dover, vomited in front of the camera for unknown reasons and later jumped into the sea to avoid the police

Despite the riots, Thomas received a visit from Zia Yusuf the following day. The spokesman for the right-wing populist Reform UK party had to listen to Thomas' anger at party leader Nigel Farage. Farage had criticized the masking of the “Patriot Platform” and described the group as “terrible”. The Reform UK party conference in Birmingham took place on the same day as the blockade in Dover. Farage was under pressure there because several fundraising scandals surrounding the party were mainly blamed on him and his advisors. An investigative report by Channel 4 television revealed suspected illegal party donations from abroad, and the police announced they would launch an investigation. That's why two of the party chairman's speakers resigned a few days before the party conference. A few days later, two further major donations to the party totaling £72 million became public, coming from two crypto billionaires, Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne. The latter was already the focus of a previous scandal involving undeclared donations.

At the same time, Farage is under pressure from the right from the far-right Restore Britain party. Its leader Rupert Lowe immediately declared his solidarity with the masked people in Dover and announced that his party “proudly stands with those who are peacefully demonstrating against illegal immigration in Dover.”

Daniel Thomas definitely offered his Christian supporters from the USA more than any right-wing populist party conference could: During the protest in Portsmouth, he shared a live stream on YouTube. Here you could watch as an excited Thomas bragged to police officers about his exploits in Dover, vomited in front of the camera for unknown reasons and later jumped into the sea to avoid the police. Even later he asked sea rescuers for a blanket and a bottle of water. “This is my human right,” said the right-wing extremist at this point.