RNLI Portsmouth lifeboat station off service following anti-migrant protests

Portsmouth's RNLI lifeboat station has remained out of service since 10 September after far-right protests over the charity's rescue of asylum seekers crossing the Channel.

• The station went off service after protesters blocked roads when about 120 people arrived at Eastney Landing following a Channel crossing, with RNLI crews helping bring them ashore.
• RNLI chief executive Peter Sparkes said staff had faced "unacceptable" online and physical abuse; the charity's museum in Poole also closed temporarily.
• The RNLI stated its lifeboats launched 9,058 times in 2025, with only 109 callouts — 1.2 percent — involving small boats in the Channel.
• Del Somerville, 42, from Portsmouth, admitted violent disorder over the Eastney protest and faces an assault-on-a-police-officer charge; he was remanded in custody.