Reform small boat vote branded 'political stunt'

A vote calling on the government not to land any more migrant crossings in Portsmouth has been labelled "a political stunt" by its council leader.

The authority held an extraordinary meeting on Thursday, at which councillors voted to reject the proposal, following the arrival of 120 people at Eastney on 6 September.

Reform UK councillor George Madgwick said he proposed the motion because Portsmouth was "not a suitable disembarkation point" for small boats.

But Lib Dem council leader Steve Pitt told BBC Radio Solent that it had been intended "to rage bait people on social media".

He told Rick Jackson's breakfast show: "This council had written to the government, making out the case for Portsmouth not to be used as a landing place for small boat crossings.

"We had received a response from the government, which I read out at the start of the meeting, saying that the government had listened to us and that wouldn't be happening.

"They're pretending that in some way, the council did not support opposing small boats landing in Portsmouth, and that is utter rubbish."

A letter from the Home Office and Department for Transport, read to the meeting, said it was "not the government's intention" to make Portsmouth a routine landing site, but stopped short of ruling it out entirely.

Pitt also said the government had "monumentally messed up" by allowing the migrant arrivals at Eastney beach.

"These are not the right locations to land small boats," he said. "There's a very good reason why they don't land small boats at the port of Dover itself."

In response, Madgwick said he agreed that the government had "absolutely failed" but denied his motion had been a stunt.

"I'm disappointed the leader of the council thinks that doing a democratic motion to send a message to the government on behalf of our residents is rage-bating," he said.

His motion had called for no more arrivals, a reimbursement of the costs of the recent landing, to be consulted on any decisions moving forward, and to condemn "the violence against the emergency services", he said.

"That was the four things the motion asked for. That's what we asked for, and that is purely what the Liberal Democrats rejected," he added.

The Home Office said contingency plans were now in place to deal with any further small boat crossings elsewhere along the coast.

It also said it would respond quickly to any changes in criminal smuggler gang tactics.