The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) rehearsed a large-scale migrant rescue exercise off Dorset on Friday as debate over small-boat crossings of the English Channel intensified.
The exercise, held in Poole Bay and Poole Harbour, involved about 40 volunteers in wetsuits who entered the water and were picked up one by one by lifeboats. Two RNLI all-weather lifeboats, three inshore boats and the Border Force vessel Defender took part in the scenarios, which also included dummies to simulate casualties. Border Force personnel led the mission.
An RNLI spokesperson said the charity ran a number of scenarios "involving the rescue of multiple people in the water" to develop and test equipment and procedures for rescuing multiple casualties. The exercises were carried out from vessels belonging to the RNLI College and involved crews, lifeguards and observers from stations in Kent and East Sussex, the spokesperson said. Learning from the exercise will be shared across RNLI stations and inform equipment rollouts, the charity said.
The training comes amid renewed criticism from some politicians and campaigners who argue that the RNLI — a volunteer-run charity — has become an unwitting conduit for people-smuggling operations. Protesters staged an anti-immigration demonstration outside the RNLI's headquarters in Poole in May, saying the lifesaving charity should not be expected to "ferry" migrants across the Channel.
The RNLI has repeatedly rejected political characterisations of its work, saying it is an apolitical charity whose primary role is to save lives at sea. The organisation has said it "would never apologise for saving lives at sea" and that Border Force and RNLI crews both respond when small boats are in danger of drowning.
Former military commander Colonel Philip Ingram criticised the government’s response to the crossings and blamed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for failing to stop the record numbers of migrants. Ingram said the RNLI should not be labelled a "taxi service" but argued that responsibility for preventing crossings rested with politicians. He criticised the Labour government's decision to scrap the Rwanda deportation scheme, saying it had removed a deterrent to irregular migration and calling the policy shift a "political cock‑up."
Home Office figures show the number of people arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel this year reached 30,100 following a reported 1,097 arrivals in 17 boats on a single Saturday. That total is 37% higher than the comparable point in 2024 and is the earliest in a calendar year that the 30,000 mark has been passed since the government began compiling such data in 2018. By comparison, crossings in 2024 reached the 30,000 mark later in the year and the total for 2023 was 29,437 for the whole year.
Border Force said it was in attendance at the Poole exercise. The presence of Border Force at the drill reflected the operational reality that both agencies respond to small-boat incidents when people are at risk. The RNLI spokesperson said the exercise allowed crew to practise rescuing multiple people from the water and to test equipment under realistic conditions.
The mock rescues were staged as the new Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, completed her first week in the role following a government reshuffle. Ministers have said they are pursuing a range of measures to disrupt people-smuggling networks and reduce crossings, but critics and some outside experts say more effective international cooperation and asylum policy measures are required.
The RNLI said crews from stations that more frequently respond to multiple-casualty incidents took part because of their operational experience, and that any improvements identified can be rolled out to other stations. The Home Office was approached for comment.
The exercise underscores tensions between the operational role of rescue services and political debates over immigration policy. The RNLI and Border Force said the training was intended to improve the speed and safety of responses when lives are at risk on the sea, while critics say the broader policy environment is allowing high numbers of dangerous crossings to continue.