Penny Hicks/ShutterstockOn September 6 2026, two Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboats brought around 120 migrants ashore at Portsmouth. They were met by a protest, where far-right demonstrators verbally abused lifeboat crew. The crew’s names, addresses and photographs were later circulated online.The protest in the Eastney area of the city was organised by Patriot Platform, a far-right group led by Daniel Thomas. Demonstrators blocked roads and clashed with police, and RNLI volunteers were branded “traitors”.Four days later, Portsmouth RNLI Station was out of service, with contingency cover from stations further along the coast. At the time of writing, it remained closed.In a separate incident, Thomas pleaded not guilty to criminal damage after allegedly slashing a migrant dinghy in the English Channel. He was remanded in custody and will appear at Portsmouth Crown Court on September 29. Read more: What Patriot Platform tells us about how the far right in the UK is changing its tactics The RNLI is a charity whose mission is to save lives at sea – any lives. Since 1824, its volunteers have saved more than 146,000 people. In 2025 alone, RNLI lifeboats launched 9,058 times. Only 109 callouts involved small boats carrying migrants in the Channel, yet these now appear to have become synonymous with debates around border control and sovereignty.The remaining 98.8% of those rescued were swimmers, sailors, children in difficulty and people who had fallen from cliffs. The RNLI receives no direct government funding, and 97% of operational crew are volunteers. The Eastney episode has revealed a fragility. That is, that the willingness of volunteers to undertake this rescue work can be withdrawn and an essential, life-saving service that has been viewed as a mainstay of UK emergency response might be lost.The UK Search and Rescue Framework describes the RNLI as a voluntary organisation, deployed by HM Coastguard. The framework assumes the charity, its volunteers and the communities that sustain it will continue as they are. This assumption is now being tested. The attack on Portsmouth RNLI was not an attack on government policy. The people targeted were not politicians or officials, but volunteers who respond in any conditions, at any time, to help strangers.Research on far-right movements has mapped how these dynamics work. It shows that far-right groups target non-political associations, sports clubs and community groups precisely because they are trusted and embedded in local life. If far-right groups can capture or intimidate the institutions that communities rely on, they may be able to reshape the boundaries of what is considered normal.Saving lives is the only objectiveThe Eastney episode also shares a similar modus operandi with far-right vigilantism on Europe’s southern borders. What makes Portsmouth distinctive is that the target was not a political organisation but a rescue service. The RNLI takes no position on migration policy. Its only mission is to save lives at sea. When protesters labelled its volunteers traitors, they were not objecting to a political stance. They were objecting to the act of rescue itself – or rather to the identities of those being rescued.Research into the UK water rescue community, examined how water rescue practitioners, bridging strategy and operations, understand their role. UK search and rescue practitioners consistently cited the ever-changing attitudes towards water rescue and the connection to political and public willingness to support, and thus pay for, operations.These factors contribute to longstanding funding and resourcing challenges that can lead to a shortages of equipment and capability.The study also found that navigating the bureaucracy of water rescue relies on search and rescue personnel across organisations knowing one another and sharing an understanding of the water environment. This cohesion is precisely what the far-right attack disrupts.The closure of the Portsmouth station is not, on the face of it, a catastrophe. Other stations can cover the area. However, contingency plans are designed for equipment failures, staff shortages and weather disruptions. When the people who staff a service are also members of the community, the boundary between professional obligation and personal risk blurs. Paid staff can be directed. Volunteers cannot. If wearing a RNLI jacket makes you a target in your own community, the calculation changes.The implications extend well beyond Portsmouth. Mountain rescue teams, coastguard rescue teams, lowland search and rescue teams and flood rescue units all rely on the same model of community-based volunteering. They are also, by their nature, exposed to the same fragilities revealed at Eastney, even while they are presumed to be permanent mainstays of emergency response available to all. Volunteers can head out to sea on rescues from the age of 17. But there has been some good news. The RNLI reported a significant increase in donations following the reporting of the abuse. However, it has also been faced with calls for donor support to be withdrawn.The RNLI has advised volunteers to consider not wearing branded clothing and to feel empowered to close stations if they feel at risk. This underlines their role as volunteers, who have the discretion to withdraw voluntary service that statutory emergency services do not.The far-right action that closed the Portsmouth station did not need to succeed entirely. It only needed to make the volunteers pause, to make the community hesitate, to make the cost of service feel higher than it did before. The rest can be left to attrition.The RNLI’s mission is to save everyone, including activists who put themselves at risk. The question now is whether communities are willing to save the RNLI.Craig Collie is a volunteer Search Technician for Hampshire Search and Rescue.David Pritchard and Maria Christina Galanaki do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.