On 5 September, men wearing black clothing and balaclavas blocked main roads in Dover for several hours, prompting Kent Police to consider ordering the removal of face coverings during protests. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she would support such a ban if police deem it necessary.
Badenoch said she respected the right to protest but expressed opposition to face coverings. “What I don’t want to see is people using protest as a cover for committing crimes and believing that they can hide from them,” she told reporters.
Kent Police confirmed it was examining legislation that would enable officers to require protesters to remove face coverings. The action follows the Dover blockade, where the masked group disrupted traffic amid growing tensions over border control.
Badenoch shifted focus to the broader issue at the UK border, saying, “The fundamental problem really isn’t about people wearing face coverings; it is that we have a problem at the border and no one is doing anything about it.” She called for urgent measures to stop small boats crossing the Channel, asserting, “We’ve got to stop the boats, and I have got a plan to stop the boats.”
The Tory leader advocated for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights to facilitate deportations and detentions. “Until we sort this out, we are going to keep seeing protests,” she added.
Official figures show a 41% decrease in arrivals by small boats during the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year. Badenoch dismissed claims that the Labour Party contributed to the decline, saying it “has got nothing to do with what Labour’s done”.
A Home Office spokesperson said the government was intensifying efforts to stop small boat crossings and regain border control. “Joint efforts have prevented over 48,000 crossing attempts and seized 1,100 boats and engines since the election,” the spokesperson said.
The statement noted that crossings this year have dropped, with July recording the lowest figure since 2020. It credited a new UK-France agreement for increasing patrols, stating, “We have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40% more boots on the ground on French beaches.”
French authorities reportedly prevented 4,300 crossing attempts and stopped 185 small boat launches in the first three months of this arrangement. The Home Office also cited National Crime Agency analysis, which attributed the reduction in crossings during early 2026 to enforcement disrupting the supply of boats and engines.
Badenoch’s comments come amid escalating debates about border enforcement and public order. The Dover protest and the question of face coverings have placed police powers and civil liberties under scrutiny. The police’s consideration of removing face coverings at protests signals a shift toward stricter control measures in response to such incidents.
According to Joy Online.
