Batons and synthetic pepper spray were used to repel hundreds of masked, black-clad vigilantes in Portsmouth on Sunday, it has emerged, as the policing minister said officers had been injured as they repelled organised “aggression”.

@kibcol1049 Don't keep us in suspense! Was it pro- or anti-immigration?

@h4890 Against illegal immigration and in particular the small boat crossings it seems. Apart from the extreme dangers of these, to the people on the boats and the rescuers, it occurred to me that the total cost to the UK must be huge. In order to pay for it I suppose some deserving UK citizen doesn’t get some help they need. That's just my opinion though.

@kibcol1049 The only two solutions I can think of are...

1. Sink the boats. Once immigrants realize this, they will go to the EU instead of risking this.

2. Deduct the money it costs to patrol and handle immigrants from foreign aid, and if that is not enough, play hardball and add the cost to exports to the country or region the immigrant comes from.

A 3 can of course be to lower the cost of handling them. That is, water and bread, no hotels, immediate shipment to rwanda,

@h4890 @kibcol1049 interesting proposals. Could you elaborate on proposal 1?

@Disputatore @kibcol1049 Easy! Imagine that someone breaks into your home. In some countries you have the right to shoot them, or defend yourself.

This creates a psychological situation where people refrain from randomly breking into peoples homes, because they risk getting shot.

I say, let's do the same with the boats, after implementing a grace period. Boats that cannot identigy themselves and with a legal purpose, will be sunk.

Immigrants will be sent to rwanda. I bet this will

@h4890 @kibcol1049 lol. So, the UK Navy would, somehow, get a mandate to execute people assumed to be illegally trying to enter the UK. Effectively transforming immigration into a capital crime. No trial required. No burden of proof. And does that mean that the death penalty has been reinstated in the UK?

@Disputatore @h4890 Not happening for sure. All the interviews I've seen with illegal immigrants, where they are willing to talk, say that they expect a better life here than their home or in the EU. That's why they come. Until that is changed it will continue.

@kibcol1049 @h4890 that's a good point. In the spirit of absurd proposals, a good way to dissuade illegal immigration would be massive campaigns in tiktok, X, and Instagram showing awful living conditions in the UK, maybe some Mad Max type scenarios. With the Aussie accent and all.