Andy Burnham has hit out at “appalling” abuse directed at RNLI volunteers by anti-migrant protesters.
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Hero life-saving crews were labelled as traitors online by far-right thugs for rescuing asylum seekers in the Channel. The charity, whose mandate is to save lives at sea, has been the target of abuse after masked protesters brought Dover to a standstill at the weekend. A separate protest in Portsmouth on Sunday saw thugs face off with police.
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The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Directing abuse at people who dedicate themselves to helping others is appalling. We won’t tolerate social media being a haven for this kind of behaviour. We support the police in investigating any threatening or unlawful behaviour and taking action where appropriate.”
His warning came after the Mirror revealed that two RNLI heroes were named and pictured online by Portsmouth protestors who condemned them as “collaborators” and “traitors”. The two men were identified in a post by a ‘Nationalist’ who said their addresses were also being shared online on Telegram.
The boss of the lifesaving charity condemned far-right protesters for targeting heroic volunteers. RNLI Chief Executive Peter Sparkes said: “The RNLI’s people represent the very best in our society, they selflessly give up their time to keep others safe. Yet they and their families are being threatened by those who would hide behind a balaclava or a keyboard.
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“Their action, in contrast, is wholly unacceptable in a civilised society. We will take whatever steps we can, to care for and protect our people and their families.”
Digital Secretary Lisa Nandy said on Tuesday that she was “personally concerned” about doxxing – when a person’s private information is shared online without their consent. Ms Nandy told MPs she had spoken to some of the tech companies about it, adding: “It is something that the Government is concerned about (and) I’m personally concerned about.”
Meanwhile, Downing Street said police should “urgently consider” what more could have been done in their handling of the anti-migrant protests at the weekend. Officials told Kent Police that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood expects them to be better prepared in future.
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It is understood the Government believes the protesters wearing masks at the demonstration could have been arrested under powers that allow a senior officer to declare a protest area where concealing your identity would be an offence.
The PM’s official spokesman said: “I think it’s right that police urgently consider whether more could have been done to act on available intelligence and deploy a wider range of tactics to provide a more reassuring response for the public.
“Forces have been clear, they’ll be rightly learning from any lessons identified following the event, and ministers continue to engage to get reassurance on that issue.”
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Kent Police said if the information received had been fully assessed it would have allowed the force to “consider resourcing”, but that the protest would still have gone ahead. It has asked the College of Policing to carry out “a learning review” of how it dealt with the demonstration.