An RNLI volunteer at Porthcawl has delivered a stinging personal rebuke to a Bridgend councillor who shared a false far-right social media post about the lifeboat charity, inviting him to come down to the station and meet the crews before taking “cheap shots” at the people who risk their lives at sea. Councillor Owain Clatworthy, who represents Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr on Bridgend County Borough Council and has expressed support for Tommy Robinson, posted footage on Facebook on 9 September showing a Black man who had been arrested in Sheffield after allegedly wielding a knife in the street. The footage had already been circulated widely by right-wing accounts with the false claim that the man had been “taxied” to the UK by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Cllr Clatworthy shared the video with the caption: “The latest RNLI taxi drop off. Coming to a town near you.” The post came against a background of mounting online abuse directed at RNLI volunteers, some of whom have been branded “traitors” by activists unhappy with the charity’s involvement in rescues in the English Channel. A volunteer at Porthcawl RNLI responded publicly to the councillor’s post, writing: “I’m a volunteer crew member at Porthcawl RNLI YOUR local lifeboat station. Instead of slagging off the RNLI on Facebook, come down to the station and see for yourself what we actually do. Meet the volunteers who give up their time, train week after week and launch in all conditions to save lives at sea. When the pager goes, we don’t ask who someone is, where they come from or why they need help. We go and help them.” The volunteer added: “You represent Porthcawl. The RNLI is a proud and important part of this community. So the invitation is there, come and visit YOUR local lifeboat station, meet the crew and see the work we do before taking cheap shots at the RNLI.”
The response was immediate. The volunteer’s reply attracted hundreds of likes and messages of support on Facebook, many of them from residents of Porthcawl and the surrounding area who praised the measured and dignified manner in which the challenge was issued. Cllr Clatworthy did not respond publicly to the crew member’s comments, and his original post remained on his Facebook page. There was nothing accidental about the councillor’s choice of words. The RNLI has found itself in the crosshairs of anti-immigration groups because of its participation, under the direction of HM Coastguard, in rescue operations in the Channel, where growing numbers of people risk their lives in small boats. The phrase “taxi drop off” is a deliberate falsehood, repeated across social media, designed to present a humanitarian lifesaving service as a political tool of migration. The Sheffield arrest, captured on video, had no connection whatsoever to the RNLI. Cllr Clatworthy’s own political trajectory has carried him steadily towards the populist right. Earlier this year he defected to Restore Britain after being placed last on Reform UK’s Senedd election list, a decisive move away from established parties. He has also aligned himself with Tommy Robinson, whose anti-Islam activism has been widely condemned, and with Charlie Kirk, the American conservative commentator and founder of Turning Point USA. Porthcawl’s lifeboat station is only a short drive from the councillor’s own ward, and its volunteers are drawn from the same towns and villages he represents at county borough level. The suggestion that the station is a front for migrant smuggling is not only insulting to the crew; it is insulting to the community that fundraises for it, staffs its shop and watches its boats go out in bad weather.
Behind the row lies a more serious problem: the harassment of RNLI people. Some activists have published the private details of volunteers online, an act of doxxing that places them at risk of intimidation and worse. Others have confronted crew members and accused them of treason. The RNLI has condemned the behaviour in unambiguous terms, describing online and, in some cases, physical abuse as “unacceptable”. On the day after Cllr Clatworthy shared the video, the charity issued security advice telling volunteers and staff not to wear anything bearing the RNLI branding while going about their private lives. The instruction was a grim milestone for an institution which, for more than two centuries, has relied on public goodwill and recognition. In a statement, the RNLI said: “The RNLI is a charity that exists to save lives at sea. But recent events have generated deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding about our purpose and our lifesaving work in the Channel. As a result, some of our volunteers and staff have been the subject of online and, in some cases, physical abuse. This is unacceptable.” The statement continued: “The RNLI’s people represent the very best of society. For over two hundred years they have dedicated themselves to rescuing people they’ve never met before, without judgment, fear or favour.” No volunteer should have to hide their connection to a lifesaving charity because of threats. The fact that such advice is now necessary shows how dangerous the misinformation campaign has become, and how easily elected representatives can amplify it.
The RNLI’s statement also sought to reset a factual record that has been systematically distorted. The charity said it had launched 9,058 times in 2025. Only 109 of those launches were to people in distress in the Channel, a figure that represents just 1.2% of its total rescue work. The message is unambiguous: the RNLI is not, and never has been, a migration service. Its crews spend their time responding to emergencies on beaches and cliffs, rescuing swimmers cut off by tides, children swept out on inflatables, surfers injured in big seas, sailors whose yachts are being driven onto rocks, and fishermen whose boats have suffered engine failure. The Channel operation, although visible, remains a small part of a broader, century-old mission. The RNLI said it was tasked by HM Coastguard to help those in distress and would do so “whenever, wherever and whoever they are”. It also made clear exactly what happens after a Channel rescue: anyone rescued from a small boat is handed into the care of the relevant UK authorities. The charity does not house asylum seekers, does not transport migrants to undisclosed locations, and has no role in deciding who may enter the country. Its work ends at the moment someone is taken to dry land and placed in official hands. The RNLI is an independent charity, not a government agency. It depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its fleet, train its crews and keep its stations open. Every false claim made about the charity is therefore a direct attack on a cause that millions of people have supported for generations.
Cllr Clatworthy is no stranger to controversy, and this is not the first time his online activity has drawn scrutiny. He has previously shared posts on immigration, LGBTQ+ issues and abortion rights that have been criticised by political opponents and members of the public. He is an evangelical Christian and a supporter of Charlie Kirk, the American right-wing activist whose organisation, Turning Point USA, promotes conservative values on university campuses. Kirk’s rhetoric and Clatworthy’s own social media style share a combative, anti-establishment tone. Earlier this week, the councillor boasted that the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales had again rejected complaints made about his conduct, using the outcome as a form of vindication. With respect, however, the absence of a formal finding against him does not amount to a licence to say anything. The code of conduct for members in Wales expects councillors to demonstrate respect and to avoid bringing their office into disrepute. Sharing a demonstrably false post about the RNLI during a period in which lifeboat crews are being threatened and harassed is not a victimless action. It normalises the abuse, it encourages those who share the post to go further, and it tells volunteers that the people elected to represent them are prepared to mock their service for political gain. The ward he represents lies a few miles inland from Porthcawl, and many of his constituents will know RNLI volunteers or have benefited directly from their assistance. If the councillor genuinely believed the claim he shared, he owed his constituents the elementary courtesy of checking it before publishing. If he did not believe it, then the post was a deliberate attempt to exploit a dangerous falsehood for attention. Neither possibility reflects well on a public office-holder, and no apology was offered.
This episode has not shaken the RNLI. It will not stop the crews in Porthcawl or anywhere else from doing their duty. But it has revealed something troubling about public discourse in 2025: a lie repeated often enough, and shared by people with political followings, can force a respected charity to advise its volunteers to hide their affiliation for safety. The crew member’s response to Cllr Clatworthy will be remembered long after the councillor’s post has been forgotten, and it will be remembered for its simple, dignified invitation: come and meet us. There is no better answer to misinformation than openness. The Porthcawl lifeboat station is open to anyone who wants to see what a modern lifeboat looks like, who wants to understand the training involved, who wants to hear the tone of a pager and know what it means to the person whose evening or night is about to be broken by the call. The RNLI has said its commitment remains unchanged, and there is every reason to believe it. Crews will continue to launch whenever the pager goes, whatever the weather, whoever needs them. They do not ask if a person is British, if their papers are in order, or if their stories will make a good headline. They simply go. The row over one Facebook post will eventually fade, as all storms do. But the work will continue, in Porthcawl and every other station around the coast of Wales and Ireland, because that is what the lifeboat service has always been. If Cllr Clatworthy ever decides to take up the invitation, he will find no anger and no political slogans. He will find men and women of different ages and backgrounds who share one thing: the willingness to drop everything and go to the aid of a stranger in the water. The sea does not care about politics. Neither do the volunteers who answer its calls. To those who stand with the RNLI, the charity has said thank you. The volunteers themselves would probably say the same, and then ask for the support of the public in countering misinformation before it puts another crew member in danger.
