Nigel Farage has called for a ban on all face coverings in public, including balaclavas, Antifa-style masks and religious veils, days after masked anti-migrant protesters brought Dover to a standstill. The Reform UK leader described such coverings as a "menace" intended to intimidate, arguing that a free society depends on people being able to see one another's faces, and his intervention follows a week of unrest linked to protests against small boat crossings.

The Dover demonstration, organised by hard-Right group Patriot Platform, saw hundreds of men in balaclavas block roads while chanting anti-immigration slogans; Farage himself called that protest "disgusting". A day later, more than 500 people protested in Portsmouth, near the naval base, over the transfer of 140 asylum seekers who had arrived by dinghy from Calais, resulting in clashes with riot police that continued until nearly midnight. Government minister Emma Reynolds branded the Portsmouth crowd "thuggish and intimidating" while thanking police for restoring order.