RNLI lifeboat crews threatened by ‘thuggery’ from anti-migrant protesters, charity watchdog says

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Lifeboat crews are facing “thuggery and intimidation” from anti-migrant demonstrators, the chair of the Charity Commission said, as she warned that protests have developed into “para-criminal abuse”.

Dame Julia Unwin said that charities “must accept that people might disapprove of their work” but condemned “in the strongest terms” the intimidation that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has faced recently.

Last month the RNLI said it had paused its services in Portsmouth in the wake of abuse of its volunteers following anti-migrant protests. The charity’s volunteers were targeted for helping migrants at sea, with footage posted on social media showing them described as “traitors”, after bringing a dinghy to safety in the Hampshire port city.

A number of “stop the boats” protests have also taken place in recent weeks, including one in Dover last month, when men dressed in black balaclavas marched through the streets, blocking roads and access to the port.

Addressing the commission’s annual public meeting, Dame Julia said: “I want to use this opportunity to condemn in the strongest terms the thuggery and intimidation that volunteers of the RNLI have faced over recent weeks – and indeed over months and even years.

“Charities must only do things that meet their purpose and objects. For the RNLI that means rescuing people in peril in the sea. It is not their right to do so. It is their absolute duty.

“The charitable sector must have the courage to tolerate vigorous debate, individual charities must accept that people might disapprove of their work, for reasons of values, politics, faith or identity.

“We should in fact welcome differences of view as evidence that we are living in a society in which everyone has freedom of conscience. But we must never grow accustomed to criminal or para-criminal abuse.”

The RNLI’s stated aims on the charities register are to “save lives, promote safety and rescue service efficiency, and provide relief from disaster at sea”.

Dame Julia admitted that the Charity Commission has limited powers to address the root causes of the divisions which have led to demonstrations and abuse.

But she added that she is “willing, again and again, for as long as it takes, to resist the normalisation of violence”.

“To draw the line between heated discussion and emotive and powerful disagreement and harassment or abuse,” she added.

Downing Street earlier this month insisted “real progress” had been made in tackling small boat crossings.