LONDON (AP) — The British government on Monday condemned the “intimidating and thuggish behavior” of anti-immigrant demonstrators who converged on a port in southern England where migrants were brought ashore after crossing the English Channel.
Hundreds of protesters, many dressed in dark clothing and wearing masks, faced off with police in Portsmouth late Sunday in an attempt to prevent lifeboats from bringing the migrants to land. They then tried to block buses carrying the new arrivals to a processing facility for asylum seekers.
Police were investigating possible assaults of a small number of injured officers and damage to official vehicles, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said.
“Disorder of any kind will never be tolerated and those who cross the line from peaceful protest into illegality will face the full force of the law,” said Sarah Jones, policing minister.
The Portsmouth protest came a day after hundreds of masked anti-immigration protesters blocked roads leading to Britain’s busiest ferry port of Dover on Saturday, clogging traffic and disrupting travelers as well as cargo vehicles heading for France.
Both groups appeared to be led by Daniel Thomas, an ally of veteran far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson.
Successive U.K. governments have struggled to stop people — more than 40,000 last year — making the dangerous journey across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. The issue has been depicted as a crisis by politicians including Nigel Farage of the hard-right party Reform UK, and has been used as a rallying point by anti-immigration activists.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government says stepped-up law enforcement cooperation between Britain and France has helped reduce the number of people making the crossing so far this year by more than 40% compared with 2025.
Farage said he supported peaceful protest but criticized the group for disguising themselves and dressing like paramilitaries.
Thomas, founder of Patriot Platform, defended the protesters for hiding their faces behind masks and balaclavas. He said the “working-class men” were not trying to intimidate anyone but don’t want to be “labeled far right.”
The boat that landed in Portsmouth had left early Sunday from Normandy, far west of the beaches near Calais where most departures have taken place — making it a much longer and riskier journey. Officials originally said that about 140 migrants were aboard the boat, but Jones told Parliament later that it carried approximately 120 people.
Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said lifeboats, a coastguard helicopter and a plane were involved in the operation to bring the migrants to shore.
Eight boats crossed the channel on Sunday and carried 625 migrants to the U.K., the Home Office said.
Police officers form a line to block protesters near Eastney Beach, in Portsmouth, England, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026. (PA via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court grappled Monday with whether local governments can sue oil and gas companies in state court to help cover costs associated with climate change, an issue with potentially billions of dollars at stake.
Key justices appeared wary about the potential sweep of litigation, but torn over the complex questions of federal and state law raised by the case.
Officials in Boulder argue their lawsuit is an attempt to hold energy companies Suncor and ExxonMobil accountable for their contributions to climate change.
They say that worsening disasters such as floods and wildfires put a heavy financial burden on local communities, and the industry should bear part of that cost.
The city and county of Boulder first sued the oil companies in 2018, years before the 2021 Marshall Fire destroyed nearly 1,100 homes and left two people dead. Total damage was estimated at $2 billion, the costliest wildfire in Colorado history.
The companies say that a flurry of lawsuits in state courts is not the way to deal with the global issue.
Governments from largely blue-leaning areas around the country have filed similar lawsuits seeking damages that could total billions of dollars, part of a wave of legal action worldwide seeking to leverage action through the courts.
“Presumably, if you prevail, the next day, a municipality in every single state will file a lawsuit,” said Chief Justice John Roberts. “How do you think that will work out on the ground?”
A win for the oil and gas companies at the Supreme Court could shut down dozens of similar cases filed in recent years.
Suncor and Exxon argue that the Clean Air Act gives the federal government – not the states – the power to regulate emissions.
They have the support of the Trump administration, which argues the lawsuits are an unconstitutional attempt to regulate planet-warming emissions and impose Colorado’s state law beyond its borders.
But Roberts and other justices pointed out that state courts consider lawsuits about a myriad of issues that have nationwide reach. “I guess I’m not quite sure what makes this situation different from those,” Roberts said.
The court is also weighing a jurisdictional question that could allow it an “off-ramp" to avoid deciding the issues right away. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson seemed like a vote in favor of that path.
“Why shouldn’t we wait and hear all of these claims once the state courts are done?" she asked.
The case was heard without Justice Samuel Alito, who recused himself just a week before arguments after facing calls to step aside because he owns stock in oil companies. That raises the possibility of a tie vote.
A deadlock leave in place a decision from Colorado’s highest court allowing the case to proceed.
Attorney Kannon Shanmugam, representing the industry, urged the justices to reverse that ruling. He said the Boulder case was attempting to use the courts to decide a public policy issue that is properly up to Congress and other elected officials.
“Climate change is certainly one of the most pressing issues” facing the country, but the lawsuit “is exactly the wrong way to go about” addressing it, he said.
Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris said Boulder’s case “egregiously exceeds” the state’s authority. The county essentially declares itself a victim of actions that occurred largely out of state, she said.
But Kevin Russell, an attorney representing Boulder, argued that state lawsuits can address damage in Colorado, regardless where the fossil fuels are produced.
Boulder is not trying to regulate greenhouse gas emissions or stop the companies from continuing to produce oil and gas, Russell said. Instead officials are seeking to hold the companies accountable for allegedly misleading the public about their contribution to global warming by burning fossil fuels, he said.
Justice Elena Kagan compared the climate case to previous state-based lawsuits against the tobacco industry and opioid makers.
“This is Chapter 3,” she said, noting the similarities of states claiming harms from products produced nationally and even internationally.
“This is a different book,″ replied Shanmugam, the industry lawyer. Harms claimed by Boulder ”are diffused nationwide and indeed worldwide,” he said.
Trump's Republican administration has rolled back environmental regulations, including a move last month by the Environmental Protection Agency to repeal rules that limit emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. States and cities have already sued over the repeal of the power plant rule.
The conservative-majority Supreme Court has been skeptical of environmental regulations in the past, including in a 2022 decision limiting the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
A decision is expected in the coming months.
Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this story.
An activist carries a sign at the Supreme Court as the court begins its new term with a case about whether oil and gas companies should help pay for damage caused by disasters linked to climate change, on Capitol Hill, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Officers with the Supreme Court Police stand watch as the hight court begins its new term with a case about whether oil and gas companies should help pay for damage caused by disasters linked to climate change, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Activists take a stand as the Supreme Court begins its new term with a case about whether oil and gas companies should help pay for damage caused by disasters linked to climate change, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Colorado rancher Kathryn Bedell talks about the impact of droughts on her business as activists gather at the Supreme Court for a case about whether oil and gas companies should help pay for damage caused by disasters linked to climate change, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
