A 50P coin celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) should prompt reflection on the human cost of Britain’s anti-refugee hysteria, a leading anti-racist said yesterday. 

Stand Up to Racism’s Sabby Dhalu welcomed the Mint’s issue of the coin, which features a design by John Bergdahl celebrating the charity’s work saving lives at sea since 1824.

She pointed out that the RNLI should be defended given attacks from Conservative politicians who have accused it of pursuing “politically correct” policies and by Nigel Farage, who sneered that it was a “migrant taxi service.”

“Despite these attacks the RNLI has remained steadfast, determined and continued to rescue asylum-seekers in life threatening situations without prejudice,” Ms Dhalu said.

But she added: “The RNLI should not have to save asylum-seekers because they should not be forced to cross the Channel themselves in the first place. 

“Asylum-seekers are making these perilous journeys because the government is refusing to implement the correct and responsible policy of allowing them safe passage, like they did for Ukrainians.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made “stopping the boats” a key theme of his premiership, though refugee charities say the rise in Channel crossings is linked to a crackdown on safe routes.

In 2019, an attack on the lifeboat charity by the Times and Mail Online, which published stories criticising it for spending money on water safety projects around the world while it faced funding cuts in Britain, backfired and prompted a surge in donations.