RNLI volunteers branded ‘traitors’ by anti-migrant protesters had recently worked to keep those same protesters safe, it has emerged.
The lifeboat charity has suspended services in Portsmouth after its volunteers suffered physical and online abuse from hard-right demonstrators.
Hard-right protesters targeted the organisation following its rescue work bringing migrants ashore, branding volunteers ‘traitors’ and publishing some of their personal details online.
But the RNLI, whose volunteers make a pledge to ‘save everyone’ upon joining, recently revealed it had been on standby during recent protests after demonstrators went into the water to film.
One volunteer, called Neil – who was falsely identified as another volunteer by activists online – told the BBC: ‘We were there, purely for the safety of the protesters in the water.
‘It would be nice for those people who called me a traitor to know that I’m not a traitor.’
Images from a protest staged on September 6, when over 100 migrants were brought to land by lifeboats, show lifeboat crews standing by as demonstrators took to the water, phones held aloft, trying to film the work of volunteers.
The charity’s chief executive Peter Sparkes told volunteers that four lifeboats had been dispatched, he said, ‘to also stand by for safety reasons while large numbers of protesters were in and near the water’.
Such immediate protection will not be in place should anti-migrant protesters take to the sea again after the RNLI temporarily closed its Portsmouth lifeboat station following a course of protracted and targeted abuse.
An RNLI crewman watches a demonstrator in the water during a protest in Portsmouth earlier this month
A group thought to be made up of migrants on board an RNLI lifeboat during a rescue operation earlier this month
Four lifeboats were on standby for the safety of the anti-migrant gathering (pictured: a protester filming in the water)
The RNLI took the station ‘off-service’ earlier this month after protesters took to the water to film, so it can ‘review crew safety and wellbeing’, south-east regional head Jacqui Irons said.
She added: ‘We have a duty of care to our people.’
While Portsmouth Lifeboat Station has temporarily closed and its Facebook page has been taken down, the RNLI says the seas around the coastal city remain under its protection via established contingency arrangements including other nearby stations.
RNLI volunteers have been advised to stop wearing its badge in public to avoid confrontations with anti-migrant protesters.
It comes after two RNLI all-weather lifeboats, deployed from the Isle of Wight, landed at Eastney Point on September 6, after picking up 120 migrants who were attempting to cross the Channel from France.
As reports of the boats landing spread, demonstrators flocked to the area to demonstrate against the arrival of the migrants.
Multiple protesters have since been charged with violent disorder as a result of the late-night march, with several police officers treated for injuries at the scene.
The RNLI has been on the receiving end of a large amount of physical and online abuse after it brought the migrants to shore and volunteers have even been told not to wear their uniform and branded clothing in public.
Video posted on social media showed volunteers being labelled ‘traitors’, while threatening posts on X named crew members.
Poole Old Lifeboat Museum has closed after several incidents of anti-migrant protesters verbally assaulting their volunteers.
Chief executive Mr Sparkes criticised abusive posters who ‘hide behind a balaclava or a keyboard’ and said their ‘action is wholly unacceptable’.
He added: ‘Recent events have generated deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding about the RNLI – our purpose, our tasking, and particularly our lifesaving work in the Channel. Sadly, as a result, some of our volunteers and staff have been the subject of online and, in the worst cases, physical abuse.’
He has said only 109 of the charity’s 9,058 launches last year were for people ‘in distress in the Channel’ – 1.2 per cent of its total rescue work. The backlash has also led to a surge in donations.
A spokesman for the charity said: ‘Portsmouth Lifeboat Station has been temporarily off service since September 10.
‘We hope to have the lifeboat station back on service as soon as possible.
‘Search and rescue cover continues to be provided through established contingency arrangements, including flank RNLI stations and other declared assets.
‘At times, it is not unusual for lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland to be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance or other operational requirements.
‘In such circumstances, established contingency arrangements are put in place to ensure continued search and rescue cover.’
Balaclava-clad activists clamber out of the water on September 6 during a protest in Portsmouth
Protesters hold a banner during a South Coast Patriots march in Portsmouth over the weekend
Anti-immigration protesters have even directed abuse at Britain’s leading blindness charity, accusing it of helping small boat migrants after mistaking it for the RNLI.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People was forced to issue a statement that they are ‘not the lifeboat people’ following threats.
The charity posted online: ‘For absolute certainty, we’re the Royal National Institute of Blind People, not the lifeboat people.’
In response the RNLI joked: ‘This is also your friendly reminder that we can’t give you eye-health advice.’
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has vowed to strengthen the law on ‘doxxing’, which involves leaking home addresses, after lifeboat volunteers involved in migrant crossing rescues had their personal details published online.
The Labour MP said she would ‘tighten up the law’ to make it a criminal offence.
Ms Nandy held a meeting with social media firms on Tuesday afternoon to discuss such abuse.
She called Elon Musk’s social media platform X an ‘utter disgrace’ after executives failed to attend a meeting about the online abuse of lifeboat volunteers.
Ms Nandy said the US tech billionaire’s company had not responded to the invitation to discuss the issue.
