Balram Sampla
Geopolitics
Geopolitics
(Asian independent) On the evening of Sunday 4 October, about 100 men in black clothing and balaclavas gathered at the driveway entrance to Hoghton Tower, a Tudor manor house in Lancashire. Footage shows them standing shoulder to shoulder as their leader addressed Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood directly. Police attended, the group dispersed soon afterwards, and no offences were reported. The venue said it knew nothing about the event.
The group was Patriot Platform North, the northern arm of a movement that has appeared quickly this summer.
Patriot Platform was founded by Daniel Thomas, a former associate of the far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Its first meeting was on 19 July 2026. It brings together local groups such as the Kent Patriots, Essex Patriots and North-West Patriots. Thomas calls it a “Christian patriotic army” that began in a South London church, and claims tens of thousands of members.
What it wants
The group says it exists to reclaim the country’s borders, restore order and assert that Britain belongs to the British. At Hoghton, the masked speaker demanded action, enforcement and accountability over border policy. He said the group was not calling for violence or civil war, and that asking questions and demanding accountability is not extremism. He promised the movement would grow, and said this was “just the beginning”.
In practice, its aims are pressure on the government over small-boat crossings and asylum accommodation, and a public show of strength.
Why its supporters are frustrated with Labour
The group’s anger is aimed at the government as much as at migrants. Supporters’ frustration tends to rest on three points:
(1) Arrivals continue. About 41,000 people were detected crossing the Channel in small boats in 2025, up 13% on 2024. Just over a third of all arrivals since 2018 have come since Labour took power in July 2024. People are still landing on the south coast, which is where the group has focused its protests.
(2) Rwanda was scrapped. Supporters argue the Rwanda scheme was a deterrent that Labour cancelled immediately with no equivalent in its place.
(3) They feel dismissed. The Hoghton speaker said ordinary people who speak out shouldn’t be targeted by the establishment because their views are uncomfortable.
The government disputes the picture. Burnham says crossings are down 50% this year on the same period in 2025, and The Independent puts the fall at more than 40%. Mahmood cites 1,900 smuggler arrests and 1,100 boats and engines seized. Both sides agree crossings haven’t stopped. They disagree about whether the trend shows a policy that is working.
What it has actually done
Dover: About 300 black-clad, masked supporters blocked roads, chanting “stop the boats”. The protest caused a four-mile traffic jam. Masked men also sprayed graffiti outside an asylum processing facility reading “Blood is on your hands”.
Portsmouth: Hundreds of protesters, some masked, blocked roads and clashed with police after a boat carrying 140 migrants landed.
Hoghton Tower: A calm gathering that ended quickly, with no offences reported.
Is it violent?
The evidence is mixed. The leadership insists the movement is peaceful. But there was a clash with police in Portsmouth, plus blockades and vandalism in Dover. Hope Not Hate, which tracks the group, says members have been exposed for violent criminal records.
Why it feels intimidating
Researchers say the intimidation is part of the effect, whatever the message. An Anglia Ruskin University expert called the organisation and the balaclavas a “new development” that gives the groups a paramilitary feel. UnHerd argued that a group of masked men is threatening regardless of its stated intentions. Hope Not Hate described the Dover action as a publicity stunt that inconvenienced a whole town. Masks also make it harder to identify individuals, which adds to the unease.
The open question
Frustration over small-boat crossings is widely shared, and many who feel it would never join a masked protest. That is the heart of the criticism of Patriot Platform. Critics argue it takes a mainstream grievance and expresses it through uniforms, blockades and a militarised image, and that this undermines the legitimate case. The group’s own view is that it is disciplined, peaceful and demanding accountability.
Hoghton suggests a more restrained tactic, with measured language and no confrontation. Whether the movement keeps to that, or repeats the clashes seen in Dover and Portsmouth, will decide how it is judged.
Reference
1.https://www.itv.com/news/2026-08-02/number-of-people-crossing-in-small-boats-tops-2000-since-andy-burnham-became-pm
2.https://www.inkl.com/news/channel-crossings-by-migrants-in-2026-what-we-know-so-far-fru4mlnz
3.https://hopenothate.org.uk/2026/09/05/patriot-platforms-masked-members-march-on-dover/
4.https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/09/15/far-right-planning-to-mobilise-thousands-for-protest-over-uk-migrant-camp/
5.https://www.lep.co.uk/news/100-masked-men-stage-anti-immigration-protest-at-hoghton-tower-9269470
