Ex-Southampton chairman turned MP spreads misinformation mistaking Royal Marine rowers for "illegal migrants"

Rupert Lowe, Independent MP for Great Yarmouth, claimed the athletes - which included a former Royal Marine - were immigrants in a dinghy. The former Reform UK politician, who was booted from the party following a row with Nigel Farage, posted a picture on social media on Thursday night (August 7) showing a boat near some wind turbines off the Norfolk coast.

“Dinghies coming into Great Yarmouth, RIGHT NOW,” he posted. “Authorities alerted, and I am urgently chasing. If these are illegal migrants, I will be using every tool at my disposal to ensure these individuals are deported.”

Mr Lowe’s claims were false, as the vessel pictured was an ocean rowing boat crewed by ROW4MND. The team of four are attempting to row from Land’s End to John O’Groats while raising money for Motor Neurone Disease (MND). The crew – Matthew Parker, Mike Bates, Aaron Kneebone and Liz Wardley – said they had been contacted by the Coastguard and asked if they could see a dinghy nearby.

Mr Bates, a former Royal Marine and British record holder for rowing across the Atlantic solo, said it soon became clear the Coastguard were asking about his own boat. As reported in The Guardian, he said: “I looked to my right and there was maybe a dozen individuals stood on the shoreline staring at us.”

The team had to satisfy the Coastguard that their boat was not carrying migrants. They were then stopped for several hours after police “asked if they could send a lifeboat out to check who we were”. A friend of Mr Bates forwarded Mr Lowe’s post to him.

“We found it hilarious,” he added. “I’ve not been mistaken for a migrant before. The best comment was the one asking where the Royal Navy were when you need them. I’m a former Royal Marine, so the Royal Navy were on the boat. But it was almost like a vigilante-style, people following us down the beach. They hadn’t twigged that we were parallel to the shore for hours and not trying to land.”

The quartet set off from Land’s End on July 25 and initially headed north into the Irish Sea before bad weather forced them to stop at Milford Haven in Wales. They then decided to return to Land’s End and start again, this time heading in the other direction, which Mr Bates said had been “about us showing resolve and resilience and hope”.

This journey is the first of four challenges over four years. The group are aiming to row from John O’Groats to Land’s End next year, from California to Hawaii in 2027 and New York to London in 2028, with a target of raising £57 million for MND research. So far, they have raised £107,515 for the charity.

Following his gaffe, Mr Lowe promised to donate £1,000 to the cause. He posted on social media: “Good news. False alarm! The unknown vessel was charity rowers, thank goodness. As a well done to the crew, I’ll donate £1,000 to their charity – raising money for MND.

“Keep going, and watch out for any real illegal migrants! We received a huge number of urgent complaints from constituents – I make no apologies over being vigilant for my constituents. It is a national crisis. No mass deportations for the charity rowers, but we definitely need it for the illegal migrants!”

Mr Lowe was the chairman of Southampton between 1996 and 2006. He returned in 2008, with the club plunging into administration in 2009. He famously had a row with former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric. Mr Mandaric sent his rival a dead duck as a Christmas present, with the feathers still attached and not frozen.

Donations can be made to the ROW4MND team online here.