The failure of successive governments to get a grip on this problem is leading to mass hostility towards migrants of any sort, and a general coarsening of national life as attitudes become more extreme. Labour, in particular, has much to answer for. Having opposed the Tories’ attempts, feeble as they were, to fix the issue, they are doing precious little now they are in power except demonise protestors.
But it’s not the lifeboat crews’ fault that we’re in this mess. It would be a disaster if the RNLI became collateral damage of political cowardice.
The organisation represents a great voluntary tradition in British life. Founded by private initiative and paid for almost entirely by donations and legacies, it is staffed by ordinary men and women, putting up with considerable inconvenience and no little danger, in their spare time. All for free. Last year, they helped more than 8,000 people and saved 272 lives. The volunteers represent the best of British life, which angry protesters claim to want to defend.
If donations dry up, or volunteer crews think that they don’t need social media calling for them to be prosecuted, or their families being hassled, it would be a sad day for the country. Without the RNLI, it would not be just migrants who drowned, but people in yachts that get into trouble, or inexperienced swimmers overcome by strong currents, or terrified children on lilos.
No doubt the state would eventually have to step in to fill the gap in its usual blundering and expensive manner, and another little bit of civil society will be lost – replaced no doubt by more bureaucrats and unionised jobsworths who won’t let the lifeboats go out on a windy day. Always be careful what you wish for.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has been saving lives at sea for more than 200 years. For most of that time, its amazing volunteer crews have been seen as heroes, out in all sorts of weather to rescue people in distress.
Yet now, to a growing number of angry people, they are seen as villains for facilitating the never-ending procession of asylum seekers in small – and not so small – boats. Some anti-illegal migration protesters say that, because the RNLI is turning into a glorified taxi service for illegal migrants, they are cancelling donations and urge others to do the same. Some even demand the organisation be closed down.
In the last few days lifeboats have been turned away from Southampton and Portsmouth and coxswains threatened with prosecution by harbourmasters. Worse, protesters have named and posted photos of volunteer crew members on social media, while claiming that they have tracked down the home address of one of them.
Just pause a moment. The RNLI operates over 200 lifeboat stations around our coasts. Most crews – from Aberdeen to Southend, from Plymouth to Llandudno – will never be anywhere near a would-be migrant. Small-boat call-outs in the Channel have accounted for just over 1 per cent of around 9,000 lifeboat launches on average over the last three or four years.
Should the RNLI simply ignore migrant boats? That would be difficult to square with the organisation’s purpose, to save lives at sea. It has never discriminated in the past by, say, refusing to rescue criminals.
It might anyway be easier said than done, as the status of boats may not be immediately apparent on radar. And, in the absence of adequate Border Force vessels or support from the under-resourced Royal Navy, it would likely mean that more migrants would die at sea.
I’ve seen it argued that most are chancers who brought their fate upon themselves, but too many children have come ashore for us to be quite comfortable with that rationalisation. There would also be the danger that pro-migrant groups might try to organise their own rescue armada, which would produce more mayhem.
The continuing surge of undocumented and potentially criminal migrants into the country is a scandal, as is the amount of money spent on supporting people unlikely ever to be net contributors to the economy nor integrate in any meaningful sense. Instead of being parked in hotels and allowed to hang around on street corners, illegal migrants should be held in secure camps until their legal position is resolved. Most asylum claims should be rejected.
The failure of successive governments to get a grip on this problem is leading to mass hostility towards migrants of any sort, and a general coarsening of national life as attitudes become more extreme. Labour, in particular, has much to answer for. Having opposed the Tories’ attempts, feeble as they were, to fix the issue, they are doing precious little now they are in power except demonise protestors.
But it’s not the lifeboat crews’ fault that we’re in this mess. It would be a disaster if the RNLI became collateral damage of political cowardice.
The organisation represents a great voluntary tradition in British life. Founded by private initiative and paid for almost entirely by donations and legacies, it is staffed by ordinary men and women, putting up with considerable inconvenience and no little danger, in their spare time. All for free. Last year, they helped more than 8,000 people and saved 272 lives. The volunteers represent the best of British life, which angry protesters claim to want to defend.
If donations dry up, or volunteer crews think that they don’t need social media calling for them to be prosecuted, or their families being hassled, it would be a sad day for the country. Without the RNLI, it would not be just migrants who drowned, but people in yachts that get into trouble, or inexperienced swimmers overcome by strong currents, or terrified children on lilos.
No doubt the state would eventually have to step in to fill the gap in its usual blundering and expensive manner, and another little bit of civil society will be lost – replaced no doubt by more bureaucrats and unionised jobsworths who won’t let the lifeboats go out on a windy day. Always be careful what you wish for.