Robert Jenrick and Jonathan Reynolds are among the MPs who have condemnded the masked protest in Kent.
Masked men dressed in black block roads near the port of Dover (Image: SWNS)
Senior MPs have condemned the disruption caused by a masked mob of protesters in Dover.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick both spoke out against the blocking of the port’s roads by hundreds of black-clad anti-illegal migrant demonstrators.
When Mr Jenrick was asked whether he condemned the demonstrations, Nigel Farage’s party’s economic spokesman said: “I absolutely do. I’ve always hated people obstructing other people doing their daily life, whether it’s Just Stop Oil or whatever.
“And I don’t like people going around in balaclavas, which is obviously very intimidating. In fact, our party’s policy is to ban face coverings like that.
“But do I understand why people are extremely frustrated? Yes, absolutely. This needs to end. This farce of the small boats has been going on for far too long.”
But speaking about the Dover incident from Saturday, he added: “You do not go about it in this way, and the police should take whatever action they can to stop this happening again.”
Footage showed the group, appearing largely to be men, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, gathered at the Kent port on Saturday.
A group was later seen marching through the town and chanting “whose streets? our streets!” and “stop the boats” as dozens of police officers followed.
An associate of right-wing activist Tommy Robinson appeared to claim credit for the protest.
Cabinet Minister Mr Reynolds told Sky News’ Sunday Morning programme: “I condemn it. I mean, peaceful protest – essential part of British life, but that’s not dressing up in costumes like this and disrupting people’s lives.
“So I would condemn it, but I’d condemn the disruption it caused for local people as well.
“But it was resolved, it was resolved. But clearly, that’s not something we would want or expect to see on the (streets) of Britain.”
He declined to comment “on the security and policing side of it” when pressed on the apparent unpreparedness of the police, adding that “on the whole, the police handled it very well”.
Mike Tapp, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal, said he was in contact with the police.
Writing on Facebook, he said: “I am fed up with idiots coming to Dover to cause disruption. I bet if you asked any one of those ‘protesters’ they wouldn’t know small boat crossing are down by 40% and we are working hard to fix the mess.
“Go home, enjoy your weekend/get a job.”
Dover is the UK’s busiest international ferry and passenger port, dealing with 9,128,648 passengers by road in 2025 and 2,119,030 freight vehicles, according to the port’s website.