Britain's RNLI lifeboat service defiant after being called a 'migrant taxi service'


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The RNLI has defended itself against accusations it is encouraging illegal immigration by rescuing people who need help while crossing the English Channel.

The charity said it had a moral and legal duty to help migrants in distress after former UKIP leader Nigel Farage accused volunteers of being a "taxi service for illegal immigration".

Volunteers have reported being heckled as they bring migrants ashore.

But RLNI chief executive Mark Dowie said the sea charity was “doing the right thing” by helping those in need.

“Imagine being out of sight of land, running out of fuel, coming across incredibly busy shipping lanes when you’re frightened and you don’t know which direction you’re going in,” he said.

“That is by anyone’s standards distress. Our role in this is incredibly important: simply to respond to a need to save lives.”

The organisation released dramatic footage showing a rescue in the Channel of a group of migrants on a small boat.

His remarks were made as record numbers of migrants continue to frustrate the government’s plans to make the sea crossing “unviable”.

More than 9,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, surpassing the total for 2020, when 8,417 people landed on British shores.

On Tuesday, striking photographs showed about 100 abandoned dinghies piled up in rows in a compound in Dover, demonstrating the scale of migrant crossings.

Migrant boats are stored at a compound in Dover. AP
Migrant boats are stored at a compound in Dover. AP

Mr Dowie acknowledged that the migrant crisis was a divisive issue but he said crews were doing humanitarian work.

“These islands have the reputation for doing the right thing and being decent societies, and we should be very proud of the work we’re doing to bring these people home safe,” he said.

He described the poor quality of safety equipment used by migrants to cross the Channel.

“We have seen life jackets made out of lemonade bottles strung together, women and children, young men, old men, with no life jackets, in the middle of nowhere, with ships going past just hundreds of yards away,” he said.

“It’s a very, very frightening environment for those people.”

Officials fear that high numbers of arrivals will continue throughout the summer as the warm weather creates favourable conditions in the Channel.

The UK Home Office previously said migrants were now taking "even longer, riskier journeys" after people smugglers changed their tactics and moved farther east along the French coast.

They send out vessels in waves, with smaller boats sent out first to distract the French authorities. Larger boats then carry more migrants across later.

Nearly 600 people were stopped by border patrols while trying to cross the English Channel in more than a dozen separate incidents on Sunday.

  • People thought to be migrants crossing from France are led ashore on a lifeboat, which intercepted the group in the English Channel, at Dungeness, southern England.
    People thought to be migrants crossing from France are led ashore on a lifeboat, which intercepted the group in the English Channel, at Dungeness, southern England.
  • Migrants are brought into port aboard a border force boat in the Channel at Dover. The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats this year has already passed the total for the whole of 2020.
    Migrants are brought into port aboard a border force boat in the Channel at Dover. The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats this year has already passed the total for the whole of 2020.
  • A man is escorted after disembarking from a border force boat at Dover.
    A man is escorted after disembarking from a border force boat at Dover.
  • On Monday, at least 430 migrants crossed the Channel – a record for a single day.
    On Monday, at least 430 migrants crossed the Channel – a record for a single day.
  • A police officer looks over a group of people sitting in the shade after being escorted from the beach by Border Force officers in Dungeness, southern England.
    A police officer looks over a group of people sitting in the shade after being escorted from the beach by Border Force officers in Dungeness, southern England.
  • People make their way up the beach after arriving on a small boat at Dungeness.
    People make their way up the beach after arriving on a small boat at Dungeness.
  • Britain and France are teaming up to tackle the problem in an attempt to reduce the number of people undertaking the often dangerous crossing.
    Britain and France are teaming up to tackle the problem in an attempt to reduce the number of people undertaking the often dangerous crossing.
  • The UK will spend more than £54 million ($73m) to help France stem the flow of illegal migrants crossing the Channel.
    The UK will spend more than £54 million ($73m) to help France stem the flow of illegal migrants crossing the Channel.
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Five hymns the crowds can join in

Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday

Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir

Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium

‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song

‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar

‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion

‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope

The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’

There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia

The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ

They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening 

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LA LIGA FIXTURES

Friday (UAE kick-off times)

Levante v Real Mallorca (12am)

Leganes v Barcelona (4pm)

Real Betis v Valencia (7pm)

Granada v Atletico Madrid (9.30pm)

Sunday

Real Madrid v Real Sociedad (12am)

Espanyol v Getafe (3pm)

Osasuna v Athletic Bilbao (5pm)

Eibar v Alaves (7pm)

Villarreal v Celta Vigo (9.30pm)

Monday

Real Valladolid v Sevilla (12am)

 

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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg

Updated: July 28, 2021, 5:45 PM