Portsmouth City Council has rejected a motion that called for the city to never be used as a landing point for migrants rescued from small boats. Councillors voted 24 to 13 against the proposal, with one abstention, during an extraordinary meeting at Portsmouth Guildhall on Wednesday.
The motion, put forward by Reform councillor George Madgwick, argued that Portsmouth was "not a suitable disembarkation point" for small boat arrivals. This followed the arrival of 120 people at Eastney on 6 September.
A letter from the Home Office and Department for Transport, read during the meeting, stated it was "not the government's intention" to establish Portsmouth as a routine landing site. However, the letter also noted it would "not be responsible to give an absolute guarantee" excluding any specific location when lives may be at immediate risk.
The meeting experienced disruptions from the public gallery, leading to a 10-minute suspension and the removal of some individuals. Council leader Steve Pitt confirmed that the authority had already written to the Home Secretary on 11 September, expressing that Portsmouth was unsuitable for such landings.