Reform UK MP calls for migrant 'taxi service' to be BLOCKED from ALL British ports after protests

An extraordinary line has been drawn in the sand on Britain's southern coast. In an unprecedented escalation of the Channel migrant crisis, two major English ports have flatly refused to allow lifeboats carrying over 100 illegal migrants to dock. Faced with an influx of unvetted arrivals from a so-called mega-dinghy, commercial port authorities took the dramatic step of shutting their gates, declaring they lack the facilities, the security and the mandate to act as a processing centre for the Home Office. The story began off the Hampshire coast, where RNLI volunteer crews were scrambled to intercept a vessel unlike those usually seen in these waters. First, Southampton Port was approached. The answer, a firm no. Next, Portsmouth Harbour was contacted and again, access was denied. Associated British Ports confirmed they turned the vessels away, citing zero infrastructure to manage the sudden logistical and security nightmare. Crucially, port operators revealed there was no formal government instruction compelling them to take the boats. For critics of the crisis, it's a damning exposure of a broken strategy, a system where frontline commercial hubs are expected to absorb the fallout of Britain's poorest maritime borders without warning, guidance or support. With major ports shuttered, the lifeboats were delivered to a smaller slipway at East Knee in Portsmouth. But as news spread on social media, local patients snapped. Hundreds of furious local residents flooded the seafront into the late hours. What followed was a night of intense friction, with protesters blocking local roads, confronting police and demanding to know why their community was being forced to shoulder the load of a crisis the government seems unable or unwilling to control. Downing Street branded the protesters intimidating and thuggish, adding, we always respect the right to peaceful protest, but not when it crosses a line. The Home Office later confirmed that all of those brought ashore have left the landing site and are being processed and transported in the usual way. An open marine VHF radio broadcast has revealed that prior to the unrest, both the Southampton Vessel Traffic Service and the King's Harbour Master Portsmouth had stopped the RNLI entering their ports. Harbour masters at those ports threatened the charity with legal action if approached Southampton or Portsmouth to bring the illegal migrants into Britain, confirming the asylum seekers did not face any risk to life. Local politicians quickly laid into the Home Office for a total failure of coordination, whilst charity leaders expressed frustration over communications. Reform UK MP Suella Braverman, whose seat borders Portsmouth, has likened the cruise of the RNLI to a taxi service for people attempting to break into Britain illegally. She said, Hampshire is now at the heart of the invasion. It's obvious the government has lost complete control of our borders. There is a cruel irony that the Normandy beaches are being used to infiltrate our country at the home of the Royal Navy. This is a national security emergency. Every port must use this precedent and refuse the RNLI taxi service entry. Every single boat must be turned back to France. The RNLI responded saying it was disappointed to have been barred from entering the ports. A spokesman for the charity said, We are working with the relevant parties to understand the decision to deny access. And we are disappointed with the nature of the communication with our crews, who voluntarily give their time to save the lives of others at sea. The RNLI's people represent the very best in our society. They selflessly give up their time to keep others safe. Yet they and their families are being threatened by those who would hide behind a balaclava or a keyboard. Their action, in contrast, is wholly unacceptable in a civilised society. Meanwhile, Reform UK councillor and former RNLI volunteer condemned the attacks on crew members. Where are you at when it comes to the role that the RNLI are, I suppose some would say, being forced to play here when it comes to the migrant crisis? Well, good evening, Patrick. Yes, it's not a hard question for me at all. I first volunteered for the RNLI when I was 16 and then did about 15 years as a full-time crew and worked for the RNLI on the River Thames. So the whole ethos of the RNLI is it goes to sea, saves lives. We don't judge on people's colour, their race, their religion. We just do as we're told. When the pager goes off, you don't know what you're going to. And I just think it's despicable that crew members, both men and women, are getting threatened because they feel that they are being put in harm's way and declared, you know, the government's taxi service. The problem isn't with the RNLI. The problem sits squarely with the government, as far as I can see. Yeah. And again, I actually just want to want to make it very clear online, you know, people kind of photographing the RNLI crew and, you know, trying to dox them, essentially. And I think whatever people's views are about the migrant crisis, that kind of behaviour is bang out of order. I want to make that very, very clear. The only kind of issue that I've got with this, so again, you might want to shed some light on it, is are the RNLI always picking them up when they're in distress? Or is it just the case that you can push off from the French beaches in, you know, northern France and you can be in the channel and I get into a risky situation, but they're not yet in distress? Yeah, they might just make it to Britain. But then sometimes the RNLI steps in and just brings them ashore. Well, I think we all know what the problem is. We get very few people actually make it to the UK shores these days. They just need to get into international waters. We've got two or three border force boats. If those boats are already in action, the Coast Guard do tend to call on the RNLI. The issue is, I think, that, you know, there's a false perception that the RNLI are out day after day after day. Well, that was true, maybe after COVID, but they very rarely get launched these days. I served on a station down in Littlestone, boarded by Dover one side and Dungeness the other side. A few years ago, Dungeness might be out four times in a day, which was hard for the crew because they're giving up their paid jobs to do it. They don't get paid any money. My big criticism, not the RNLI, but the government, is that this is volunteers' money that has been donated to the institution. Border force get paid a lot of money to do the job, and yet the RNLI are expected to do it for nothing. I think the very least the government could do is pay for the fuel, even donate some money towards the crew for giving up their jobs to act as a taxi service. But the RNLI do not discriminate against anybody. If the Coast Guard call them up, they will go to sea. So you don't think that there is a risk that there could be, or even just like some idiot on a pedalo, who's had a few too many to drink and done what some people do. And then there is a situation where the RNLI could be forced to choose between a load of illegal immigrants and someone who's genuinely in distress in the water. Because I think that's what some people are concerned about that could happen. And obviously they don't want to see that happen. I think you're right. But as I said, the RNLI are very rarely caused for migrants these days. A few years ago, yes, 100%. You know, if they're out rescuing migrants from dinghies and a ship gets into distress, that is what they were there for. I think the answer lies with the government. They even need to close our borders down, as reform obviously have said we would do. Or they need to spend more money on border force boats, so they've got enough boats to cover the channel. And then that way the RNLI wouldn't be used as what some people declare as a taxi service. The thing that upsets me more than anything was I was proud to wear my RNLI jersey or a sweatshirt with it on. And I understand talking to friends in Dover and Dungeness that the RNLI have actually advised them not to wear brandy clothing because of fear of being attacked from extreme right-wing activists. It's certainly not anything that reform would support at all. We support the RNLI and we think they do an amazing job. Yeah, I mean, that is obviously, again, disgraceful. I mean, that said, I can, I can, without wanting to condone any of the kind of doxxing and stuff that we've spoken about that, you know, I can absolutely understand the sheer strength of feeling from people when they see the French authorities guiding illegal migrants to a beach and keeping guard over them overnight. And then the French helicopters go up and then they give them a lift into the channel and then border force or RNLI. I get, I totally understand why people are, are so frustrated. But, you know, I suppose the solution there is to, is to not let them take over the first place. Just, just, just lastly on this, it's up to you whether or not you want to comment on this, David, but are there, are there members of the RNLI who are very conflicted about this? I.e., you know, they, they don't, they don't really agree with the idea of these people crossing the channel. They just feel as though they haven't really got a choice. This is their job to go and help people in the channel. And they are actually, they're not like some woke captured organisation is what I'm trying to get at. No, going back to what I said, when the pager goes off, you don't know what you're going to. After COVID, when the RNLI were out day after day after day, they were getting tired of it. People, some people were out four days in a row getting them. But it's, it's just, this isn't the answer. Criticising the RNLI is not the answer. To stop this problem, you need to stop the boats and the RNLI is completely neutral and it's purely to save lives. The dinghy which the migrants were picked up from is thought to have made one of the longest journeys of any small boat. But for millions of fed up citizens watching across the country, the incident highlights a much broader truth. Britain's enforcement network is stretched beyond its breaking point. Whilst volunteer crews are bound by maritime law to rescue those at sea, local authorities and private businesses are drawing a line. They refuse to let commercial infrastructure become a default safety net for soft touch border policy. As gangmasters launch bigger boats and local coastal communities reach boiling point, one question remains. How much longer can this chaotic strategy hold?