Lifeboat skipper is sacked for one error in 34 years
HE served the Royal National Life- boat Institution for 34 years, and never put a foot – or oar – wrong.
But Tom Clark’s unblemished record and MBE apparently counted for nothing when he was sacked by the organisation for an ‘unauthorised training exercise’.
The coxswain, 57, criticised the RNLI, saying it is run ‘on a tactic of bullying and intimidation’. He also claimed that it ‘bombarded’ volunteer lifesavers with ‘new rules, forms, acronyms and health and safety’ and had become a ‘massive corporate giant that has lost its focus in saving lives at sea’.
The comments were made after Mr Clark was sacked last month from his role as coxswain, or skipper, at Scarborough lifeboat station over the sea exercise.
Mr Clark dismissed the allegations against him as ‘rubbish’ and insisted he did nothing wrong, but following a six-month investigation, the volunteer was ‘permanently stood down’ by the RNLI.
An online petition calling for him to be reinstated and signed by more than 4,800 people has been ignored.
Yesterday Robert Goodwill, Tory MP for Scarborough and Whitby, also urged the RNLI to reinstate Mr Clark.
He said: ‘He has a wealth of experience. I would hope the RNLI could draw a line under this episode and move forward and get back together with Tom.’
Last week the charity faced criticism over a row a few miles along the coast at Whitby, which concerned cheeky mugs that led to two crew members being sacked and at least four others resigning in protest.
In an online statement, Mr Clark said the sea exercise last October that led to his dismissal was cleared in advance by the relevant authorities.
A last-minute issue meant he took two others to replace crew members and he was later told he ‘should not have taken people to sea.’
But the coxswain said he and other crews were regularly