Black-clad mobs and the puzzle of two-tier justice | Letters

Readers respond to reports and commentary on far-right groups of masked vigilantes causing unrest in Dover and Portsmouth over the weekend

In Dover and Portsmouth at the weekend, mobs of masked vigilantes in balaclavas acted in an intimidating and racist manner (‘Army of Christian patriots’: how a black-clad vigilante group swarmed Portsmouth, 8 September). Critical infrastructure was blocked, with roads, boats and transport disrupted. Police officers were injured and vehicles damaged. Permission for the orchestrated demonstrations was not sought or granted. Arrests? None.

Imagine if this had been a masked pro-Palestine protest or an unauthorised environmental action disturbing the flow of traffic, intimidating the public and injuring police officers. There would have been hundreds of arrests. So, we have an extraordinary example of “two-tier policing”, with the police service being tough on Palestine and climate protesters while going easy on anti-immigrant demonstrations.