Moment anti-migrant organiser 'Danny Tommo' confronts Reform UK's Zia Yusuf at scene of Portsmouth demo - and warns Nigel Farage to be 'careful with his words'

The founder of a group of anti-migrant protesters who blocked roads has confronted Reform UK's Zia Yusuf, telling him his party leader Nigel Farage needs to be 'careful with his words'.Daniel Thomas, known as 'Danny Tommo' – who is an associate of right-wing protester Tommy Robinson - claims to have organised a protest in Dover on Saturday which saw men in black clothing and balaclavas blocking roads.He was also on the scene when demonstrators waded into the sea as a boat carrying 140 migrants arrived in Portsmouth yesterday. Following the disorder in Dover, Mr Farage described masked protesters as 'disgusting'.Interrupting Mr Yusuf during an interview in the city, Mr Thomas also accused Mr Farage of calling protesters at the Unite the Kingdom rally in London earlier in the year 'knuckle-draggers'.He said: 'You have to tell Nigel… we had a million people on the streets of London in every colour, every creed, every background, every ethnicity… he called us knuckle-draggers.'I understand Nigel is going to be prime minister one day and I understand he has to set a standard, which will basically be that you know he can't just come out and say everything's great and these guys are fantastic, but Nigel needs to be very careful with his words.'Mr Thomas, an anti-migrant protester who founded Patriot Platform in June, dashed around the large crowd of reporters and said: 'You have to understand, Yusuf, that what we're trying to do and the reason the Patriot Platform has been created is not because of violence. We're not looking to intimidate anyone. Patriot Platform founder Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, speaks to Reform UK home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf in Portsmouth today following the recent anti-migrant protests'Let me start by first explaining to you why the men are wearing masks. As you know, and as Nigel knows, the Left in this country target us massively. We have working-class men who are bricklayers, who are roofers, who are carpenters, who build the houses that you live in. They build the roads that you drive on. They do all of that stuff. The reason they're covering their faces is because we know they're going to be targeted.'He added: 'What Nigel Farage has done is not good. When you call people disgusting, yeah, you have to understand the reasons of why this is happening.'Mr Thomas also told Mr Yusuf that his group was going to be a 'voting bloc' in future elections.He said: 'What we're doing right now is creating an infrastructure of men, not for violence, not to commit crimes, but to create a voting bloc.'So, in 12, in 18 months' time, we convert into a voting bloc, and that voting bloc will go to the most suitable candidate and to the most suitable party that is able to bring this country back into order.'He added: 'We're going to give you the opportunity to do what you're saying you're going to do.'But if your leader, your boss, slanders me, they're going to push (us) into other parties. At the end of the day, I do like what… some (other) parties are doing.'In reality, you have the best chances, you have the best speeches, but at the moment, it's just words. We want that to become action.'Mr Yusuf said he was at the scene to listen to people, and told Mr Thomas: 'Nobody has done more to raise this issue, and taken a load of flack for it, than Nigel Farage.'He added: 'I will take that message, you have my word.'Mr Yusuf also told Mr Thomas to ensure there was no violence from his group towards the police. An infrared image taken by a French lifeboat crew that shadowed but did not stop a dinghy carrying 140 migrants that was later taken to PortsmouthLifejackets dumped by migrants by the road at Eastney Beach, where the migrants arrived, are collected by locals The migrants were brought ashore by RNLI vesselsReform UK's home affairs spokesman said: 'I just want to make that really clear, just so that we're really clear about this, right? There is never any excuse for violence against police officers who are doing their job. They are taking orders, and that is what it is.'Mr Thomas said there was no violence in Dover and, when questioned about his group's masks and attire being intimidating, said: 'The reason people felt potentially intimidated was because of the faces covered. I've made that point very clear.'The only reason they've done that is because no one wants to be labelled far right.'When asked later about how his interview was interrupted, Mr Yusuf said 'my parents did a reasonably good job of raising me to not be rude and walk away'.Asked why the Patriot Platform founder was allowed to speak for so long after disrupting his interview, Mr Yusuf also told reporters: 'Halfway through? Genuine question. Have I cut any journalists off halfway through an interview?'And asked what he thinks of Patriot Platform, Mr Yusuf added: 'He obviously stood there and articulated views to me, my main job here today – I know I'm doing a lot of media – is to come and listen to people. That's what I try to do: listen to their concerns.He also said: 'You can play back the tape, you know, he articulated why he and his group are doing the things that he's doing, he articulated that, you know, he was telling me that they haven't done anything illegal, and he tells people it's really important that they don't do that.'We obviously, I said it is really important that nobody attacks police, and he actually agreed with that. The landing sparked protests which saw demonstrators clash with riot police until they were dispersed in the early hours of this morning The protest is thought to have been spearheaded by Daniel Thomas, pictured as the migrants landed'He was making his points respectfully. I think it was a respectful conversation and I'm in favour – frankly, I'd recommend all politicians do that.'Mr Yusuf also put the blame for the disorder squarely on Downing Street.He said: 'I am extremely upset and angry, alongside local people here in Portsmouth, because I think we've seen something extraordinary, something I've not seen before in my life in this country and I was born and raised here, and that is a police escort being given to men who have just broken into the country. A police escort for men who literally just invaded the country, which is an escalation.'For well over a decade, we've had Tory and Labour governments who have completely given up on their most basic and important duties, which is to defend the sovereign territory of the United Kingdom and to keep British people safe, to protect British people.'So when you keep imposing on local residents, unvetted men from countries like Afghanistan, and I say Afghanistan, because according to the Ministry of Justice Afghan nationals are 20 times more likely to commit sex offences than British nationals, if you keep doing that to people, then you're going to incite disorder.'And that's why I want to keep emphasising the point that if there is any disorder, the person responsible is Andy Burnham. The Government is using words like thuggery. It is state-sponsored thuggery to keep open borders, and to then forcibly, literally using the police, impose upon local British people, hard working British people, men who, about whom the only thing we know, is that they've just broken into the country.'I think it's disgraceful. Andy Burnham is inciting disorder. Shabana Mahmood is inciting disorder by refusing to operate a border of any kind, and then imposing upon British people men, about whom we know nothing other than the fact that they just broke into our country.'Asked if he would agree with Mr Farage calling the Dover protests 'disgusting', Mr Yusuf said: 'Look, nobody has done more to raise awareness of this issue than Nigel Farage. Literally nobody in this country's history. That's why I've dedicated my life to making him prime minister. And I want to emphasise the anger that people feel, the sense of helplessness.'When a mother tells me, as she did in Piddington, a week ago, that she is taking self-defence classes with her daughter, because they live in a village of 350 people in Oxfordshire, and now there's 1,250 adult men, unvetted adult men from countries like Sudan and Afghanistan, being imposed upon them. A protester in the water as around 140 migrants who were brought into Portsmouth Hundreds later blocking roads until around 3am as they tried to stop migrants being taken by bus to Kent for processing After being dispersed by riot police, some protesters got into cars and followed coaches and vans taking the asylum seekers to Kent'How do you think it makes them feel? How do you think it makes them feel to then see police escort 140 men breaking into the country? What signal is that sending to every other person, currently in France or elsewhere in the world, considering making the journey to Britain? What you're saying is come here, our so called Border Force will pick you up at the 12 mile line, bring you here, and then you're basically going to get a police escort to your free hotel.'It's utterly disgraceful, and I want to emphasise, the person responsible for this is Andy Burnham and, of course, the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. There's no evidence they care at all. In fact, Andy Burnham is still more interested in doing TikToks about crisps while British people are suffering.'Mr Thomas founded Patriot Platform, promoting it as a project to build 'a mighty patriotic army', partly to push back against migrants arriving in the UK by small boat.He has openly recruited supporters using social media, but his protest action planned at Dover appears to have come as a surprise to the authorities, with Kent Police claiming it was 'spontaneous'.Livestreaming while standing in the sea at Portsmouth yesterday, he said: 'Roads are all blocked, they are never going to be able to leave here.'He added: 'It was only yesterday (at the protests in Dover) when we warned them that we will not accept this any more, and that this is no longer an option to tell us that the boat numbers are down.'Some eight boats carrying 625 people arrived in the UK having crossed the English Channel yesterday, Home Office data shows.In an update today, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said official vehicles were damaged and a handful of police officers injured during a stand-off with masked anti-migration protesters.The force has launched an investigation into potential assaults and criminal damage after black-clad activists attempted to block migrants being driven away from Portsmouth overnight yesterday.Protesters gathered on the beach - and some waded in to the water try to disrupt the arrival as migrants were brought in on RNLI boats Several coaches were lined up next to the beach ready to take the migrants away for processing Riot police were deployed to the scene, although no arrests were thought to have been made Crowds stayed in the area until the early hours of todayThe force said in a statement this afternoon that around 200 activists had left the city at around 4am.Portsmouth City Council leader Steve Pitt heavily criticised the decision to bring lifeboats carrying migrants to shore in the city, claiming it had 'put people at risk' and caused 'needless disruption'.He said the Home Office has 'serious questions to answer' after an 'unsuitable' location was chosen to disembark the RNLI boats carrying the 140 or so migrants on Sunday.Demonstrators blocked the road leading away from the RNLI Portsmouth Lifeboat Station at Eastney Marina, with photos showing police carrying riot shields forming a line and protecting a number of coaches that were parked up.The landing site is on a narrow shingle bank with only one road to the city.Coaches were able to leave in the early hours of today taking all of those brought ashore to a location for processing in the usual way, likely to be the Manston arrivals centre in Kent.Footage posted to social media appeared to show protesters following the convoy of coaches along a motorway after it had left.The video was shared with the caption: 'In pursuit of migrant coaches from Portsmouth NOW!! We are heading towards DOVER.'Mr Pitt said the council were not asked about the decision to allow the lifeboats to land in Portsmouth, which he described as a 'completely unsuitable location'.Meanwhile, a grandfather said he had to deflate his own dinghy to stop protesters taking it amid the scenes last night.Barry John-Williams, 69, said the protesters were 'idiots' and some had offered him money to use his boat.He said: 'They (protesters) were offering to pay me money to take the boat and I said: 'Look it's staying there,' and that's why I deflated it. What they were going to do with it, I don't know.'One of the idiots, I heard him say they thought the migrants might have come in this boat,' he added, referring to his own small 2.7 metre-long dinghy.The dinghy was met by lifeboats from the Isle of Wight when it reached UK waters, having set off from the Cherbourg area.It is thought to have made one of the longest journeys of any small boat, and landings as far west as Hampshire are rare.But officials believe it was a one-off rather than a sign of new tactics.Earlier today, Mr Farage said there was a difference between the masked protesters in Dover and the 'little old ladies in Portsmouth'.In a video posted on X, he said: 'Masked marches on the streets of Dover, and a huge, spontaneous protest on the streets of Portsmouth last night.'You'd be right in thinking that this country is now on the edge of serious civil disturbance.He added: 'But let me please say this: people wearing masks, dressed up in a similar type uniform to a paramilitary, is not going to solve this problem.'There is a marked difference between what happened in Dover and what happened last night in Portsmouth, the only way we're going to solve this is through the ballot box.'