Portsmouth RNLI considered for freedom of the city

Children of RNLI crew members have been bullied at school because of their parents’ lifesaving work, councillors heard during a debate over honouring the charity.

Portsmouth councillors have backed a motion calling for the RNLI to receive the Freedom of the City honour following threats and abuse directed at lifeboat crews.

A notice of motion put forward by councillors Gerald Vernon-Jackson and Billy Ansell asked members to consider granting the civic honour which recognises outstanding contributions to the city.

It comes after recent migrant boat arrivals, saw lifeboats transport asylum seekers ashore at Eastney and Gosport to they could be transported to Kent for processing. RNLI volunteers have since faced threats, intimidation and abuse, leading to the temporary closure of a lifeboat station in Portsmouth.

The motion condemns hostility directed at lifeboat crews, including the description of the RNLI as a “taxi service” for migrants.

Introducing the motion, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson said: “For 200 years the RNLI has existed for one purpose, to save lives at sea.”

He said he was “deeply concerned about the abuse, intimidation and threats” directed at the RNLI and that the council should “express its unequivocal support” for the charity.

He read out a letter from the local lifeboat station detailing how crew members had their names published online, reports of “spotters around the station”, including “suspicious vehicles” parking nearby, and “numerous” messages left at the station.

The letter added: “Perhaps the worst is the personal abuse we’ve had in the city”, with volunteers being “accosted in yacht clubs, pubs and even the Co-op”.

It continued: “The children of two of my crew have been bullied in school because their dad is in the RNLI.

“Some crews have been called traitors and cowards to their face.”

The letter concluded that, “thankfully”, the station had received many supportive messages of “goodwill” and that the motion, if passed, would provide a “huge moral boost”.

Cllr Emily Strudwick, leader of the Reform UK group sought to amend the motion. She said: “As a group we would like to support the motion”, but wanted to remove “political commentary”.

She added: “Nobody should face threats or aggression while carrying out their duties.

“However, if residents feel that the RNLI is being used as a taxi service, they are entitled to express that view.

“Responsibility for the current situation lies with the government, not the RNLI.

“If our amendment is incorporated, we’ll support it”, but if it was not, the group would reject the motion “on its political basis”.

Labour councillor Graham Heaney said it was “completely wrong for people to go out and describe the RNLI as a taxi service and people in positions of responsibility and authority should not do it”.

Cllr Simon Bosher, leader of the Conservative group, described the motion as a repeat of the extraordinary council meeting on September 23, when Reform UK tabled a motion raising concerns about small boat crossings.

He criticised the process, saying Freedom of the City awards were not normally sought through a full council motion.

“What’s happened here is that we are using the RNLI to politicise a debate and using the freedom of the city to politicise that.

“Gerald has politicised the highest honour which this council can give – shame on you for doing that because anyone that follows afterwards is going to be tarred with the same brush.”

In response, Cllr Matthew Winnington said the RNLI had already been “politicised last month” at an extraordinary meeting where jeering from the public gallery nearly forced its cancellation.

He added: “It was a baying mob in the galleries and there were threats from a certain member for the Reform group – to myself and one other about suing us.”

He said: “I don’t care if someone thinks it’s okay to say that the RNLI is a taxi service, they can say what they want but please don’t repeat it in this city.”

In his maiden speech, Cllr Billy Ansell said: “At the heart of the RNLI is a principle which is remarkably simple, when someone is in danger at sea you go to their aid.

“You don’t ask for nationality, their religion, their politics, or how they came to be there.

“They leave their families and the safety of the shore when the call comes, sometimes knowing that they themselves might be putting their lives at risk.

He said that while “you can have legitimate disagreements about immigration, you can believe our borders should be better controlled and that the asylum system should be proper” but none of that justifies the treatment of volunteers.

Reform UK’s amendment, which sought to remove the objection to describing the RNLI as a “taxi service”, was defeated. The original motion was then carried, with 25 votes in favour, 11 against and one abstention.

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