‘The Truth Is Coming Out’, Farage Tells Breitbart as Lifeboats Allegedly Prioritise Ferrying Migrants

A seemingly vindicated Nigel Farage told Breitbart News that “the truth is coming out” after a report claimed that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) was neglecting its stated mission of rescue work because it is too busy ferrying illegal boat migrants ashore in the English Channel.

A lifeboat expert who works in the English Channel has revealed that members of the charity told him that they had refused rescue calls because their craft were too busy bringing boat migrants ashore.

“I’ve had a few RNLI crew tell me about them refusing to help boaters as they are too busy carrying people ashore,” the whistleblower told the Daily Mail.

Responding to the report, Brexit leader Nigel Farage told Breitbart London: “At last the truth is coming out, the RNLI are so overwhelmed with routine work for Border Force that they are struggling to fulfil their main purpose as a charity.”

Last week the Brexiteer turned GB News host said that “we’ve seen instances of yachts breaking down, not being attended to, fishing boats whose engines have broken washed up on the beach not being towed away” because the RNLI was focused on assisting migrants across the Channel.

Mr Farage, a longstanding supporter of the mission of the lifeboat service and the bravery and selflessness of its volunteers, said that it was “to be regretted that the RNLI… increasingly is becoming a taxi service for the illegal gangs pushing migrants across into the English Channel.”

The development comes as some 13 people, including several children, have died in British waters — including in inland waterways and lakes — during the recent heatwave.

The charity donation funded lifeboat service, which has been in an open spat with Mr Farage over his comments, has seen financial supporters abandon the programme over its decision to joining hands with the Border Force in taking migrants ashore, on occasion receiving them from the French Navy.

Last year, Farage exposed that the French Navy was escorting boats full of migrants into British territorial waters, where the migrants were handed over to the British Border Force.

Further analysis of transponder data conducted by Breitbart London revealed that the same French warship had clandestinely met for a migrant handover with an RNLI boat.

Following Mr Farage’s public comments on the lifeboat service and an alleged incident of heckling from the British public, the RNLI went on a PR campaign in the left-wing press and on social media, where they released footage of lifeboatmen bringing women and children migrants on to their boats to showcase “Why The RNLI Rescues Migrants” — overshadowing the fact that the vast majority of illegal boat migrants appear to be young men.

In an interview with the left-wing Guardian newspaper, the CEO of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Mark Dowie, said that escorting migrants ashore in the UK represents “humanitarian work of the highest order”.

“Our role in this is incredibly important: simply to respond to a need to save lives,” he said, adding: “We should be very proud of the work we’re doing to bring these people home safe.”

The crisis in the English Channel, which has seen a record 3,500 illegal migrants cross the Channel last month alone, and over 9,300 since the beginning of the year, shows no signs of slowing down, despite constant promises of a crackdown from the government.

A report from The Times on Tuesday said that maritime forecasts used by the Border Force and the RNLI had predicted an upsurge later this month in so-called “red days” in which people smugglers may send off hundreds of migrants from the beaches of France per day.

A local source told the newspaper: “Kent is bracing themselves for more daily records from mid-August. Long-term forecasts from mid-August shows there’ll be lots of red days.”

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka