Tragedy of Western Isles fishermen shows how wrong it is to undermine rescuers like RNLI – Alistair Carmichael
We should remember that, when lives are at risk on the sea, the Coastguard and RNLI are always to the fore
Tuesday night brought news that will chill hearts in any island community: a fishing boat, the Kilda, was missing off the coast of Lewis in the Western Isles. The local RNLI branch sprang into action as they always do when life at sea is in peril. In the days since, they have worked alongside HM Coastguard and the police to search for the missing men.
We know already that the body of the Kilda’s skipper has been recovered. As I write, the search continues for his two crewmates. We must hold out hope that they will yet be found alive but inevitably hope becomes more difficult to sustain with every hour that passes.
For me, like many islanders, moments like these bring back memories of other similar days. Since I left Islay High School in 1982, no fewer than six men who were at school with me have lost their lives at sea. In my other island home in the Northern Isles, the trickle of tragedies has continued.
Farage’s new low
In a small community, no one is ever faceless or nameless so no one is truly forgotten. That fishing is a dangerous way to make a living is a grim fact of life. It is why we value the role that the Coastguard, the RNLI and other rescue organisations play. It is why I always bridle when I hear others trying to undermine their work for a political point.
Nigel Farage and Reform describing the RNLI as a migrant “taxi service” and seeking to weaponise their work was a new low even by their standards. Apart from the quality of their tailoring, there is little difference between him and hooligans harassing firefighters on city streets.
Maintaining proper rescue services at sea has always been much harder than it ought to be. Time and again, some clever person in a cosy office comes to add up the figures, determines that we are spending too much money on emergency services, and seeks to cut them back.
Perhaps we should send some of the bean counters to Lewis this week so that they might understand the value as well as the “cost” of the services we provide.
Hard-fought campaigns
In just the past few years, we have seen attempts to cut Coastguard volunteer remuneration and to reduce rescue helicopter readiness in island communities.
Each time we have beaten back those changes with hard-fought campaigning and a united front. We have long-since learned not to be complacent about our blue-light services.
The perils of the sea will always be with us – we will never be entirely free of tragedies like those suffered by the community of Lewis this week. For as long as those perils remain, we must stand with those who put their own lives on the line to protect the lives of others.
The memory of those whom I knew in childhood and since, who are no longer with us because they went to sea to put food on our tables, deserves that much at least. No one should be allowed to dishonour it.
Alistair Carmichael is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland
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