{"id":773583,"date":"2026-09-17T12:05:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T12:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/773583\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T12:05:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T12:05:35","slug":"rnli-closes-portsmouth-lifeboat-station-after-huge-anti-migrant-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/773583\/","title":{"rendered":"RNLI closes Portsmouth lifeboat station after huge anti-migrant protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The RNLI<\/a> has temporarily closed its Portsmouth<\/a> station following anti-migrant protests in the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Volunteers for the service were branded \u201ctraitors\u201d<\/a> after bringing 120 migrants<\/a>, who had been rescued from a single dinghy, ashore near Portsmouth Lifeboat Station.<\/p>\n

Protests erupted near the station and threats against the RNLI<\/a> and its personnel skyrocketed across the country.<\/p>\n

Volunteers have had their addresses leaked online<\/a> and some have been told not to wear their RNLI uniform in public on the grounds of safety.<\/p>\n

The station in Eastney has now been closed since 10 September and Eastney RNLI have also taken down their Facebook page.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn anti-migrant march in Portsmouth on 12 September (Getty)<\/p>\n

The Poole Old Lifeboat Museum also shut down after several incidents of anti-migrant protesters verbally assaulting their volunteers.<\/p>\n

RNLI chief executive Peter Sparkes slammed the hate<\/a> as coming from those who \u201chide behind a balaclava or a keyboard\u201d, whose \u201caction is wholly unacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cRecent events have generated deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding about the RNLI \u2013 our purpose, our tasking, and particularly our lifesaving work in the Channel. <\/p>\n

\u201cSadly, as a result, some of our volunteers and staff have been the subject of online and, in the worst cases, physical abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the charity said that Portsmouth Lifeboat Station had been \u201ctemporarily off service\u201d since 10 September.<\/p>\n

\"WomenWomen and children pose during a Patriot Platform silent vigil at the RNLI station in Poole (Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to have the lifeboat station back on service as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cSearch and rescue cover continues to be provided through established contingency arrangements, including flank RNLI stations and other declared assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times, it is not unusual for lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland to be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance or other operational requirements.<\/p>\n

“In such circumstances, established contingency arrangements are put in place to ensure continued search and rescue cover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police have launched an investigation into abusive social media content directed at RNLI volunteers, including two who had their photos, full names and home addresses leaked.<\/p>\n

Chief inspector Adam McCaig warned that attempting to intimidate or obstruct maritime rescue teams actively endangers human lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe RNLI exists to save lives at sea, and any disruption to that mission could have serious consequences for those in need of urgent assistance,\u201d Mr McCaig said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would advise anyone considering carrying out any action that could hinder the RNLI’s vital lifesaving work to carefully consider the implications.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribe here <\/a>to get the latest updates from The Independent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[40980,82777,7504,6494,309,255147,59,57,58,11237,209865,50,6487,219659,84397,253469,3366,255146,13211,57048,56,54,55,658],"class_list":["post-773583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-adult","tag-bp","tag-child","tag-color-image","tag-england","tag-far-right-politics","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-horizontal","tag-in-front-of","tag-news","tag-photography","tag-physical-position","tag-politics-and-government","tag-poole","tag-poster","tag-royal-national-lifeboat-institution","tag-social-issues","tag-station","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}