Ash Sarkar clashed with a BBC Question Time audience member after he defended anti-migrant protesters as “patriots” standing up for Britain.
The exchange came during a discussion about groups of predominantly male protesters who have appeared at ports and other locations wearing black clothing and balaclavas.
Some have blocked roads, confronted members of the public and attempted to prevent people rescued from the English Channel from being transported for immigration processing.
Sarkar accused politicians of spending more time discussing the people arriving in small boats than the racism and intimidation surrounding some of the protests.
She also delivered the bluntest description of the night, calling the masked displays “small-penis behaviour”.
That did not go down well with everyone in the audience.
‘Why do you always have a go at the right?’
The debate began with a question asking whether Britain should be more worried about the protesters or the people arriving in small boats.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said concerns about irregular migration were legitimate, but argued that some protesters were exploiting the issue to intimidate people and spread the belief that the problem could never be solved.
Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately criticised the government’s record on Channel crossings. She nevertheless said that threatening demonstrations and vigilante action were unacceptable.
Sarkar believed both politicians were still concentrating too heavily on migration.
She said the country was witnessing mobs of men presenting themselves in an almost paramilitary fashion, yet the conversation kept returning to asylum seekers.
Sarkar referred to masked groups gathering at ports, reports of residents being intimidated and footage of an inflatable vessel being punctured while an emergency responder was aboard.
She also pointed to footage which she said showed children being encouraged to chant that people at sea should be left to drown.
One audience member argued that people wearing masks at pro-Palestinian demonstrations had not received the same treatment. He accepted that violence in Portsmouth was unacceptable but said the protesters were responding to the government’s failure to stop Channel crossings.
A second man then challenged Sarkar more directly:
“Why do you always have a go at the right, the patriots?”
He accused the political left of wearing masks and attacking opponents, referring to allegations about bottles being thrown during a protest in Brighton.
He also claimed that protesters in Dover had been welcomed by some residents, noting that nobody had been arrested during the blockade.
Sarkar replied:
“They’re not patriots.”
Sarkar rejects the audience member’s argument
The audience member demanded to know why Sarkar refused to accept that description.
She said people promoting hatred and division were not displaying the values she associated with Britain.
When he accused left-wing politicians of routinely calling opponents Nazis, Sarkar asked him to identify whom she had personally described that way.
She then returned to the protesters’ behaviour.
Sarkar said residents had reported being frightened to leave their homes while groups of masked men blocked roads. She referred to videos in which protesters confronted passersby and demanded to know why they appeared to disapprove of the demonstration.
She also rejected the suggestion that she wanted different rules for left-wing and right-wing protests.
Sarkar said she supported the right to peaceful protest regardless of a participant’s politics. She added that she did not support a general ban on face coverings, even when they were worn by people whose politics she opposed.
Her objection, she said, was to hatred, division and fantasies of violence turning into dangerous acts against people at sea.
She made clear that puncturing vessels while people were vulnerable was wrong regardless of who was responsible.
Danny Tommo charged after Channel footage
The discussion was directly connected to the actions of Daniel Thomas, the founder of the anti-migration network Patriot Platform who is known online as Danny Tommo.
Footage previously reported by The Daily Britain appeared to show Thomas repeatedly driving a blade into an inflatable dinghy in the Channel.
The people travelling in the boat had been transferred to rescue vessels, but an emergency responder was still aboard when the side of the dinghy was punctured.
Thomas was arrested on Wednesday. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has since charged the 37-year-old with one count of criminal damage.
He has also been charged under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act over an allegation that he failed to provide police with the PIN for his phone.
Thomas was remanded in custody and was due to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court by video link on Friday 25 September.
The charges are allegations. Thomas has not been convicted and the case will now be considered by the courts.
Hundreds gather outside police centre
Several hundred supporters gathered outside the Police Investigation Centre in Basingstoke on Thursday evening after messages circulated urging people to attend.
Many wore black, while some carried Union flags. The crowd chanted for Thomas to be released as police officers formed a line outside the building.
The scenes unfolded on the same evening as the Question Time broadcast.
Patriot Platform had already attracted attention after black-clad protesters blocked roads around the Port of Dover earlier in September.
A demonstration in Portsmouth the following day ended in disorder as activists attempted to prevent coaches carrying people rescued from the Channel from leaving Eastney Marina. Police officers were injured and emergency vehicles were damaged.
RNLI volunteers were subsequently subjected to abuse and accused of betraying the country for rescuing people at sea. The charity temporarily removed its Portsmouth station from service while it reviewed the safety and wellbeing of its crews.
James O’Brien condemned the intimidation of RNLI volunteers and accused politicians and commentators of making excuses for threatening behaviour.
Other panellists reject masked protests
Liberal Democrat president Josh Babarinde told the Question Time audience that interfering with volunteer lifeboat crews was neither patriotic nor British.
He urged viewers to support the RNLI and said hostility towards rescue workers represented the politics of division rather than love of country.
Broadcaster Andrew Neil also criticised the black clothing, masks and coordinated appearance of the groups.
Neil called for face coverings and political uniforms to be banned at demonstrations. He argued that the rule should apply equally to right-wing groups, Black Lives Matter activists and pro-Palestinian protesters.
One response to “Ash Sarkar shuts down defence of masked anti-migrant protesters on Question Time”
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I thought after Cable Street in 1936, political uniform-wearing was already banned by actual Act of parliament? It shut down Mosley then, why arent we talking about it now?
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