@ashleyjames: I genuinely can’t get my head around the fact that we’ve reached a point where saving another human being from drowning is controversial. Whatever your politics, if you find yourself believing that someone should be left to die in the sea, I really think it’s worth questioning the rhetoric that got you there. Because this is what years of dehumanising language does. People become a “swarm”, an “invasion”, a threat, and we forget that we’re talking about individual human beings with names, families and people who love them. If someone needs saving, our emergency services don’t ask their immigration status, nationality or race before deciding if their life is worth saving. Whether someone is drowning, trapped in a fire or injured in an accident, you help them because they’re a human being who needs help. And I’m honestly sick to death of “protecting women and girls” being weaponised to justify hatred towards entire groups of men. Violence against women is a gendered issue, not a race issue. Misogyny existed before immigration and would exist if immigration stopped tomorrow. Yet when a white man commits violence he’s so often a “bad apple”, but when the perpetrator isn’t white, suddenly his race, religion or immigration status becomes the explanation. Of course we can talk about immigration, we can and we SHOULD. We can criticise our broken asylum system and talk about borders, housing, integration and public services, but none of that requires us to lose our humanity. Maybe I feel this even more since becoming a mum, but I thank my lucky stars that my children were born somewhere safe. If they weren’t, and I believed somewhere else could give them safety and a future, I honestly don’t know what lengths I’d go to for them. History has shown us where dehumanising groups of people can lead, and it starts with language, with convincing us that “they” are different, dangerous and less deserving of empathy. So sending so much love to the RNLI volunteers who continue to save lives regardless of whose life it is ❤️ And seeing donations surge after the abuse they’ve received has given me hope, because I still believe compassion is louder than hate. #fyp #RNLI

Ashley James

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Region: GB

Saturday 12 September 2026 13:50:53 GMT