Andy Burnham accused by Reform of 'directly inciting disorder' after Portsmouth anti-migrant protest
Zia Yusuf hit out at the Prime Minister following the scenes of unrest over the weekend
Reform's Zia Yusuf has accused Andy Burnham of "directly inciting disorder" in British coastal towns after hundreds of anti-migrant protesters took to the streets of Portsmouth over the weekend.
Listen to this article
The party's home affairs spokesperson repeatedly hit out at the Prime Minister on Monday for allowing illegal migration into the UK, and for also trying to use scenes of disorder to "tar the right".
It comes after around 140 protesters descended on Portsmouth, vowing to prevent migrants who arrived in a so-called 'mega dinghy' from being taken to a processing centre in Kent.
Speaking to LBC's Benji Hyer, Mr Yusuf hit out at Labour after chief secretary to the Treasury, Emma Reynolds, who described the protests as "thuggish and intimidating behaviour".
Read more: Senior Reform figures condemn ‘stop the boats’ balaclava protest in Dover
He said: "Andy Burnham is directly inciting disorder in British coastal communities.
"I want you to think what it would be like to be a local resident. We know that the men coming into this country are A, unvetted, and B, are nationalities who are orders of magnitude more likely to commit sex crimes than British people.
"The British state, now led by Andy Burnham, continues to aid and abet illegal entry into this country.
"When people come out and say enough is enough, how helpless do you think you would feel?
"So I want to say it again, Andy Burnham knows what he's doing.
"What he's trying to do is incite disorder and then use any potential disorder to tar all of the right— the millions of patriotic, right-thinking, decent people who think this is absolutely absurd."
Challenged that the Prime Minister's language had so far been composed on the issue, Mr Yusuf added he "respectfully disagreed" and added: "They use words like thuggery.
"I would argue it is state-sponsored thuggery to keep imposing men who break into this country, into local communities, give them absolutely no voice and no recourse on the decision."
Police have launched a probe into the disorder after it was revealed that several officers were injured.
A number of police, Coastguard and Border Force vehicles were also damaged during the standoff and a handful of police officers were treated at the scene for injuries, none of which were serious.
In a message to Downing Street, Mr Yusuf said: "They should be following Operation Fortress, which we've already published.
"Under Reform, here's what would happen - men like this turning up across the Channel and trying to break into this country won't be met by so-called Border Force that give them a free ferry service to this country.
"They would be be met by His Majesty's Royal Marines, whose orders will be to not let a single one of these unauthorised vessels reach our shores.
"They will pick them up and take them back to France, that's number one."
He added: "Number two - no more free hotels, no more loitering outside our schools.
"Every illegal migrant in this country will be detained and deported back to the country from which they came.
"That is a relatively straightforward thing to do if you have the political will to do it."
The mega-dinghy had set off from the Baie de Seine in Normandy – a 180-mile drive from Calais – suggesting people smugglers are expanding their launch points along the French coast to evade enforcement efforts.
A Government spokesperson told LBC: "We condemn the intimidating and thuggish behaviour we saw in Portsmouth last night.
"The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder. We thank the emergency services who safely managed this situation.
"This Government is doing the hard and necessary work of bearing down on small boats crossings, with the lowest number of June to August arrivals since 2020."