RNLI fundraiser for 'Flying Farage' hovercraft jumps £5,000 after far-right thugs attack hero volunteers

And now there is friction within the French far right about that 'treaty' they signed with Reform about 'the boats'.
It would seem that in the English version, there was an extra clause, or sentence. Marine Le Pen is most annoyed.

MayBee70

Peacelilydilly

I think the RNLI do some fantastic work saving lives at sea I have every praise for them.but I can see why some people are turning against them because of the migrant problem. I read a post that said why are the migrants on the boats deemed in distress when they cross over onto our side of the channel and need rescuing but not when they are being escourted by the french makes you wonder.

I would imagine that a lot of the people the RNLI rescue need help not because of a natural disaster but because they’ve done something rather stupid and are putting other people’s lives in danger by rescuing them ( at least that’s the impression I get from watching the tv programme about it). But it’s what they volunteer for and are trained to do. A bit like doctors. They do not question, they just do what any decent human being would do. Round here they mainly have to help people who think they can outrun the tide on the causeway ignoring all of the warning signs telling them not to do so.

Difference is these migrants have PAID thousands to people smugglers to bring them (along with hundreds of others) on a rubber dinghy. They have CHOSEN to get on that dinghy to cross the busiest shipping channel. They know that the RNLI will rescue them.

Holidaymakers regularly get cut off by the tides up here and have to be rescued by the RNLI but that is because they do not understand about tides and do not read signs properly. We are talking maybe a family or two at a time not hundreds of people. They set off for a walk and not expecting the RNLI to come to their aid. We also have boats that get in danger and people who drift out on sun beds and swimmers who get dragged out. All accidental not deliberate.

I don’t think the why people in peril are makes any difference, as their mission is to save lives when people are in peril.

Apparently, during WW2, the RNLI saved the lives of downed German pilots and crew.
That's their mission. Save lives at sea.
Not to be judge and jury.

I don’t have the crayons or time to explain the difference!

RNLI boats use advanced digital compasses to get them to the scene.
The Crews use old fashioned moral compasses to rescue all.

Primrose53

I don’t have the crayons or time to explain the difference!

You couldn’t, even with top quality crayons. Lives are lives, one is not worth more than another.

Primrose53

I don’t have the crayons or time to explain the difference!

Bit of a cop out 🙂

Maremia

Apparently, during WW2, the RNLI saved the lives of downed German pilots and crew.
That's their mission. Save lives at sea.
Not to be judge and jury.

🙂🙂👏👏👏👏👏

Perhaps this should be writ large with fat Crayolas for all those who would rather listen to grifters filled with hatred than bother to read and understand the law.

The RNLI operates under strict international maritime law which states that all ships anywhere at sea are obliged to provide assistance to people in distress.

Rescue at sea is anchored in maritime tradition as a human duty and is recognised as customary international law everywhere at sea.

Three international conventions regulate the coordination and implementation of maritime rescue:

• the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)

• the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue and

• the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

From the RNLI’s annual accounts for 2025.

We saw a fall in the number lives saved compared to 2024, in part due to a decline in lives saved in the English Channel.

RNLI crews in south-east England continued to be tasked by HM Coastguard to save lives in the English Channel. This is an extremely demanding search and rescue environment in which our volunteers are often confronted with highly challenging rescue scenarios.

Our crews launched 109 times to small boats crossing (1.2% of total RNLI launches), aiding 2,353 people in distress (5.7% of the total number of people recorded to have crossed the Channel in these vessels in 2025).

From the separate document: Why do RNLI crews launch to small boats in the English Channel?

All small boats crossing the Channel are classed as being in distress. The RNLI is one of several declared search and rescue capability providers and, under long-established procedures, RNLI volunteer crews respond to anyone at risk of drowning, regardless of who they are or how they came to be in difficulty.

Of the 41,472 people who were recorded to have crossed the Channel in small boats during 2025, 94.3% were aided by other agencies such as Border Force. Just 5.7% were rescued by the RNLI.

rnli.org/about-us/how-the-rnli-is-run/annual-reports

rnli.org/about-us/our-work-in-the-channel

Between 1 January and 7 September 2026, a total of 17,281 people crossed the Channel in small boats. Overall crossings are down roughly 43%, and the number of successful boats crossing has decreased by about 49% compared to 2025. (BBC).

We are now approaching the end of the summer peak for crossings. Numbers drop significantly in winter (November through February) due to adverse weather conditions.

It’s probably pointless to try to reason with people who start from a position of dislike for people who try to come to the UK on small boats. It has been explained many times that a person has to arrive on UK soil before they can claim asylum. The record numbers of returns has also been discussed many times.

People will continue to try to come here. Trafficking is big business whether it’s in illegal goods and substances or people. While manipulative politicians and their followers continue to push the notion that life in the UK is easy; false claims of priority housing and generous benefits, then people will continue to risk their lives. Only when they get here will they realise that life won’t be what they were promised or expected.

The truth is, Reform and Restore need people to keep coming. Their careers depend on it, depend on the outrage they stoke on a daily basis. While these selfish politicians capitalise (and boy do they capitalise) on the misery of desperate people, RNLI will continue to do the selfless work they do to save lives.

Anyone who takes to open water in a small craft of any kind may hope the RNLI will be able rescue them but the window in which to find and rescue someone is short if they are already in the water. The shock of immersion in cold water can kill in minutes. The first 30 minutes is crucial in saving someone as hypothermia soon sets in and can lead to cardiac arrest.

Anyone takes a risk when they take to open water, anyone whether they do so for leisure or people making a living from the sea.

We are very lucky to have the RNLI. As a former leisure sailor, I have been a member for over 45 years and shall continue to support them until my dying day ... and beyond as they are the major beneficiary of my Will.

Yesterday, the postman delivered my mail. A copy of the latest RNLI magazine, the cover story, the rescue of a young windsurfer who has since raised over £8,000 for the RNLI by running marathons, and Private Eye, the cover story Farage scoffing oysters while discussing impermissible overseas donations. The irony.

Graphite a well put together and sensible informative post.

Thank you

Thanks for that excellent post Graphite.

What puzzles me is the number of people who don't appear to understand that the RNLI cannot, as a charity, be a tool for a political party.

This makes the physical attacks, verbal abuse, doxxing - and death-threats - even more galling; and Farage - who consistently whips up anti-migrant sentiment whilst also being aware of this fact (he's not stupid, he knows the RNLI has to be apolitical and obey maritime law) - a devious and dangerous manipulator. He should be held to account because he's playing a big part in this civil unrest. But like many political agitators with an agenda, he'll let his foot-soldiers carry the can, he'll not be there to defend them when and if they have their day in Court.

Thank you, Graphite, and others, for posting the facts about how these amazing volunteers save lives every year. These men and women should be the subject of our highest praise, not of political point making.

The RNLI operates under strict international maritime law which states that all ships anywhere at sea are obliged to provide assistance to people in distress.

Rescue at sea is anchored in maritime tradition as a human duty and is recognised as customary international law everywhere at sea.

We were on a cruise ship one year, crossing the Atlantic.
A Mayday call came in overnight, a small yacht was in distress with a snapped mast. We were the nearest ship though still a fair way off.
Our captain changed course and went, at full speed, to rescue the couple on the yacht.
They stayed onboard until we reached the Caribbean and flew home from there.
It was all quite dramatic!