Above: a group of people thought to be migrants crossing from France come ashore from the local lifeboat at Dungeness in Kent (pictured last month), after being picked up from a small boat in the Channel<\/p>\n
The RNLI is having to delay other rescue work because of the number of migrants it is now picking up in the Channel, it was claimed today.<\/p>\n
It came as some supporters\u00a0stopped giving cash because\u00a0lifeboats are heading into French waters to pick up migrants and the charity has been spending millions of pounds abroad including buying burkinis for children in Africa and funding nursery places in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
Some withdrawing their support even compared it to the left-leaning National Trust, where irate members campaigned to oust its \u2018worthless wokes\u2019 leadership team after a series of controversial policies.<\/p>\n
Britain’s lifeboat service has been accused of becoming a ‘taxi service for people traffickers\u2019 after it was revealed teams were going into French waters to pick up refugees in dinghies.<\/p>\n
One lifeboat expert working regularly in the Channel told MailOnline today: ‘I\u2019ve had a few RNLI crew tell me about them refusing to help boaters as they are too busy carrying people ashore’. The RNLI has been asked to comment.<\/p>\n
It came at a time when the number of lives lost in British water during the recent heatwave hit 13, including several children.<\/p>\n
The RNLI, founded in 1824, has been accused of becoming obsessed with political correctness in recent years, leading to resignations among volunteers. Parallels have also been drawn with the National Trust, where members successfully plotted to oust the charity’s chairman over his ‘woke’ agenda.<\/p>\n
Britain’s lifeboat service sends around two per cent of all donations outside of the UK on a wide number of projects in Africa and Asia\u00a0including buying burkinis for Muslim women in Africa and setting up creches in south Asia.<\/p>\n
In 2019 the RNLI brought in\u00a0Dr Philip Goodwin, a green charity boss, to drive the British charity’s work abroad saying their initiatives and money will target the world’s poorest countries because they account for 90% of drowning deaths.<\/p>\n
The RNLI declined to comment on accusations they were acting as a ‘taxi service’, and denied that their recent Twitter campaign defending their migrants policy was to raise cash.<\/p>\n