'Despicable': Campaigners rally around RNLI after Britain First complaints
Campaigners have rallied around a vital lifeboat service after Britain First “bombarded” it with complaints about its life-saving help for people attempting to cross the English Channel.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has received messages from the far-right activists brazenly accusing them of “treacherous activities” – because they save dozens of desperate people, seeking asylum in the UK, from drowning.
Britain First says it wants the RNLI to “focus on saving British lives.”
The RNLI rushes to the rescue of anyone getting into trouble at sea. In recent weeks many of those people have been migrants crowded into small inflatable boats hoping to make it to the UK.
Last week, 27 people died trying to cross the Channel in one incident. That came days after a group of people attempted to block a lifeboat from getting to sea in Hastings.
The RNLI told ITV News an incident was reported to the police, but that the lifeboat “was able to launch and the station remains on service.”
Charity Hope not Hate responded to Friday’s attacks with a campaign to stand against Britain First and show solidarity with RNLI staff.
“Far right activists calling themselves ‘migrant hunters’ have harassed the RNLI for months,” a statement on its website reads.
“But now Britain First has launched a campaign to bombard the Royal National Lifeboat Institute with complaints over English Channel crossings.
“The group have set up an online form for supporters to send harassing messages to RNLI to stop its ‘treacherous activities’ and accuse them of being ‘engaged in people trafficking in the English Channel.’
“Attacking a charity which saves lives in order to fuel anti-migrant hate is despicable.
“We cannot forget that the never ending ‘immigration debate’ that fills our newspapers and television screens is a debate about people’s right to live.”
'I would rather die than stay here': ITV News Correspondent Peter Smith's report on the desperation pushing people to make Channel crossing
Talks between the UK and France to prevent people from taking the perilous journey have stumbled in recent days, following a spat between the countries in response to a Boris Johnson tweet.
Downing Street said on Friday “we want collective action with our French counterparts and other European counterparts.”
Come what may from those discussion, the RNLI “remains focused on our core purpose” – saving lives at sea.
A spokesperson for the charity told ITV News: “The RNLI is proud of the humanitarian work of its volunteer lifeboat crews in the Channel and we are grateful for the outpouring of support we’ve recently received.
“The recent tragic deaths in the Channel are a sad reminder of just how dangerous it is to go to sea in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes in boats not fit for the crossing, especially as winter approaches.
“We are a voluntary lifesaving charity, and will rescue anyone in trouble at sea, as the RNLI has been doing for nearly 200 years, without judgement or preference.”