Portsmouth grants RNLI highest civic honour following threats to crew
RNLI receives city's highest civic honour after Eastney volunteers faced hostility over migrant rescues
Councillors have agreed to grant the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) the Freedom of the City following recent hostility directed towards the charity.
In mid-October, Portsmouth City Council members approved a notice of motion supporting the award of the civic honour to the RNLI’s Eastney lifeboat station.
It followed the arrival of migrant boats in September, when lifeboats transported asylum seekers ashore at Eastney before they were taken to Kent for processing.
RNLI volunteers subsequently faced threats, intimidation and abuse, leading to the temporary closure of the Eastney lifeboat station.
During the meeting, an email from the lifeboat station was read to members, detailing the abuse crew members had experienced. This included being confronted in pubs, yacht clubs and shops, while two volunteers said their children had been bullied at school.
Following approval of the motion, the council has now conferred the city’s highest civic honour under the Local Government Act 1972.
The motion states that “for generations, the volunteer crews of Portsmouth Lifeboat Station have put to sea in all weathers and at all hours to save lives, of local people, in the waters around our city, giving their time and courage freely in the service of others.”
Arrangements will now be made for the presentation and formal admission to the Freedom of the City.
Before the vote, Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson told the chamber that any life at danger at sea “is a life worth saving”, regardless of who they are.
He said that “for over 200 years” the RNLI had “put their lives at risk and we owe them our thanks”.
He added that the council needed “to stand with these brave volunteers” at a time when “they’re facing abuse”.
All members voted in favour of conferring the honour, apart from the seven Reform UK councillors, who abstained.
Their decision prompted the word “disgrace” to be heard murmured across the chamber.
During the debate in mid-October, the Reform group said it would support the motion if references condemning the RNLI being described as a “taxi service” were removed, arguing that residents were entitled to express that view.
A Freedom of the City award is the highest civic honour a council can grant, recognising individuals or organisations for exceptional contributions to the community and city.