The Independent says 'anti-migrant chaos' in Portsmouth; the Morning Star says 'far-right intimidation of refugees'
One man has been arrested and two protests are planned for Saturday. Two outlets use different words for last weekend, and they lead on different things.
Two names for one weekend. In three reports, The Independent calls last weekend in Portsmouth "anti-migrant chaos" and "anti-migrant protests". In one report, the Morning Star calls it "far-right intimidation of refugees".
| The Independent | Morning Star | |
|---|---|---|
| The weekend | "anti-migrant chaos", "anti-migrant protests" | "far-right intimidation of refugees" |
| The organisers | not named in what we hold | "the so-called South Coast Patriots" |
| Leads on | a man, 42, arrested; police "ready to ban face coverings" | a counter-march to "reclaim Portsmouth" |
| The arrest | first arrest reported | not mentioned |
Saturday. The Independent says two protests are planned and police measures will be in place all day. The Morning Star says Stand Up to Racism will gather at 12pm at All Saints Car Park, Church Street.
Who speaks. The Morning Star quotes five people. All five oppose the protests. It quotes no organiser, no police officer and no refugee. It does not quote the man one of its sources names as the instigator.
What is not settled - Only The Independent reports the arrest. We hold its headlines, not its full text. We do not know what the man is accused of. - Only the Morning Star says lifeboat crews were attacked in Dover and Portsmouth. It states this in its own voice and names no source for the attacks. - We do not hold the police statement on face coverings. We have only The Independent's headline.
What this is about. Protests in Portsmouth, a port and naval city on England's south coast, aimed at people who have come to Britain to seek asylum. There is also a dispute over what to call those protests.
How it got here - Since 2018, people have crossed the English Channel from France in small boats and claimed asylum on arrival. Every UK government since has promised to stop the crossings. - While a claim is decided, the Home Office must house asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. It has used hotels and other housing across the country, and those sites have become the target of local protests. - In July 2024 children were killed in a knife attack in Southport. False claims spread online that the attacker was an asylum seeker. Disorder followed in towns across England, and some crowds attacked hotels housing asylum seekers. - In 2025, protests outside asylum hotels spread again, beginning in Epping, Essex. - The Morning Star dates the Portsmouth events to Saturday 5 September, "six days" before its report. We first covered them on 9 September. Four reports used four different words for one crowd.
Who is in it - The protest organisers. The Morning Star names them as "the so-called South Coast Patriots". We hold nothing from the group itself. - Stand Up to Racism. A national campaign that organises counter-protests against far-right events. - Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary. It polices Portsmouth. Under a 1994 law, police can order people to remove face coverings inside a set area. They use this when they expect disorder and think people will hide their faces. - Refugees and asylum seekers in the city. None of them is quoted in the reports we hold. - The Home Office. It runs the asylum system. The Labour government elected in July 2024 promised to end the use of hotels.
What is at stake. The first question is whether a second weekend passes without violence. The second is about words. "Anti-migrant" presents local anger at migration. "Far-right" presents organised intimidation. The choice tells a reader who is acting and why.
Where it stands. On 11 September The Independent reported one arrest and two protests planned for Saturday 12 September. We do not hold what the man is accused of.
The story so far
Earlier stories The AI Times filed on this thread.
What is being argued about
- What to call last weekend in Portsmouth: chaos, protests or intimidation
- The first arrest, and a possible police ban on face coverings on Saturday
- A Stand Up to Racism counter-march against a South Coast Patriots demonstration
- Reported attacks on lifeboat crews in Dover and Portsmouth
Claims and verdicts
The Independent
The Independent
🇬🇧UK ·
digital · independent
Man, 42, is first person arrested after anti-migrant protests in Portsmouth
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at The Independent →
What we have measured
Accused party response Russia's side is reported as no comment. ×1A company statement about itself, taken as a "reveals" rather than "says", for a company's account of its own product ×1A count stated flat four crimes is given as a settled number in the headline, with no court, charge or jurisdiction attached ×1Actor named No actor named for the cut-short or for the clashes ×1
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The Independent
The Independent
🇬🇧UK ·
digital · independent
Anti-racists to march in Portsmouth on Saturday, six days after far-right intimidation of refugees
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Morning Star →
What we have measured
Anyone hurt counted the only report that carries a civilian death; the person is counted, not named ×1Anyone hurt counted Moscow region dead given by age and sex, attributed to the regional governor ×1A speaker's epithet carried in the reporter's "sugar daddies" used to describe the donors outside the quotation ×1Asserted flat, not attributed a contested political claim written as an established fact ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
The Independent
The Independent
🇬🇧UK ·
digital · independent
Anti-racists to march in Portsmouth on Saturday, six days after far-right intimidation of refugees
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Morning Star →
What we have measured
Anyone hurt counted the only report that carries a civilian death; the person is counted, not named ×1Anyone hurt counted Moscow region dead given by age and sex, attributed to the regional governor ×1A speaker's epithet carried in the reporter's "sugar daddies" used to describe the donors outside the quotation ×1Asserted flat, not attributed a contested political claim written as an established fact ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
Anti-racists to march in Portsmouth on Saturday, six days after far-right intimidation of refugees
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Morning Star →
What we have measured
Anyone hurt counted the only report that carries a civilian death; the person is counted, not named ×1Anyone hurt counted Moscow region dead given by age and sex, attributed to the regional governor ×1A speaker's epithet carried in the reporter's "sugar daddies" used to describe the donors outside the quotation ×1Asserted flat, not attributed a contested political claim written as an established fact ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
Who wrote it
The Independent · 3 reports on this story
Coverage, outlet by outlet
The Independent
The Independent
🇬🇧UK ·
digital · independent
Man, 42, is first person arrested after anti-migrant protests in Portsmouth
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at The Independent →
What we have measured
Accused party response Russia's side is reported as no comment. ×1A company statement about itself, taken as a "reveals" rather than "says", for a company's account of its own product ×1A count stated flat four crimes is given as a settled number in the headline, with no court, charge or jurisdiction attached ×1Actor named No actor named for the cut-short or for the clashes ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
— independent
Anti-racists to march in Portsmouth on Saturday, six days after far-right intimidation of refugees
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Morning Star →
What we have measured
Anyone hurt counted the only report that carries a civilian death; the person is counted, not named ×1Anyone hurt counted Moscow region dead given by age and sex, attributed to the regional governor ×1A speaker's epithet carried in the reporter's "sugar daddies" used to describe the donors outside the quotation ×1Asserted flat, not attributed a contested political claim written as an established fact ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
—
The Independent
The Independent
🇬🇧UK ·
digital · independent
The Independent
The Independent
🇬🇧UK ·
digital · independent
ABC News (Australia)
ABC News (Australia)
🇦🇺AU ·
public broadcaster · public-service
What we have measured
Actor label and hedge The same man is called 'far-right' and named by his legal name. The act is hedged with 'allegedly', where the longer report states it flat. ×1A different count, stated flat one dead and 140 missing, unattributed, earliest of the four ×1Affected counted The only report to count the local people affected ×1Are the dead named one of the dead named, through a relative at the hospital ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
The Guardian
The Guardian
🇬🇧UK ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Actor named Denial in the passive voice, with no one named as the person who dismissed it ×1Actor named names Israel as acting and states the death toll flat, with no source ×1Actor named Ireland named as the side that ended the conference ×1Allegation omitted the police statement is cut with an ellipsis where the other two reports carry the controlling or coercive behaviour allegation ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
C
CBC News
BBC News
BBC News
🇬🇧UK ·
public broadcaster · public-service
What we have measured
Dating and attribution 'It was not until Tuesday' is a judgement about delay, not a date. No other report we hold comments on how long the German finding took. ×1How hard the claim is stated Headline says the UN voted to adopt and replace; the last sentence of the report says the vote is non-binding ×1How hard the claim is stated The qualification arrives in the last sentence and is immediately overridden by an effect the report gives no source for. ×1Which figure is used States the replacement as done — the Assembly voted to replace the map — where the resolution urges states to use a different projection. ×1
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The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
🇬🇧UK ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
The Times
The Times
🇬🇧UK ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Outlet profile in The AI Times →