When Leeds agency Yasper started doing pro bono work for the ROW4MND charity, they probably had workshopped worst case scenarios…
One of those wasn’t likely to be a sitting MP, Rupert Lowe, claiming on Twitter that their high profile boat was filled with illegal immigrants, about to invade Great Yarmouth.
The leader of Restore Britain and MP for Great Yarmouth told his 412.4k followers at 20.30 last night:
“Dinghies coming into Great Yarmouth, RIGHT NOW.
Authorities alerted, and I am urgently chasing.
If these are illegal migrants, I will be using every tool at my disposal to ensure these individuals are deported.
Enough is enough. Britain needs mass deportations. NOW.”
He even posted an image of the boat, believing it supported his claim. It has gained almost a million views and thousands of likes and comments, mainly seeming to support his views.
Dinghies coming into Great Yarmouth, RIGHT NOW.
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) August 7, 2025
Authorities alerted, and I am urgently chasing.
If these are illegal migrants, I will be using every tool at my disposal to ensure these individuals are deported.
Enough is enough. Britain needs mass deportations. NOW. pic.twitter.com/1mCg0ljRQ4
For background, ROW4MND is aiming to raise £57m in the fight against Motor Neurone Disease and its crew of experienced rowers holds a number of ocean-rowing records. They’re rowing the length of Britain from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
The target is £57m because of the shirt numbers worn by rugby legends Doddie Weir (5) and Rob Burrow (7).
READ MORE – Yasper takes up £57million charity brief inspired by Rob Burrow and Doddie Weir
Julian Pearce, the founder of Yasper, messaged us at midnight last night, while he was still fighting fires and “trying to correct the record” and he gave us the following statement from ROW4MND:
“The crew are quite clearly an ocean rowing team, and no one was more surprised to be contacted by the coastguard than Matt, Mike, Aaron and Liz. Over the past two weeks they have faced big waves, high winds, route changes and Storm Floris, but being shopped as illegal immigrants by a sitting Member of Parliament really takes the biscuit.
“ROW4MND is a project that will raise £57m to fight this awful illness over the next four years. The crew’s mission is to raise awareness of the disease, which will affect one in every 300 people over a lifetime, as well as raising funds to find a cure. It is said that all publicity is good publicity, but in this instance, the crew would like to be allowed to get on with their epic challenge, rather than having to respond to posts on Instagram. That said, the crew would like to personally thank Rupert Lowe MP for increasing the profile of the ROW4MND project immeasurably.”
While Lowe’s original message still exists, he has responded to it this morning with a promise to donate £1k to the charity. Although he did still manage to squeeze in a call for mass deportations.
Good news. False alarm! The unknown vessel was charity rowers, thank goodness.
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) August 8, 2025
As a well done to the crew, I'll donate £1,000 to their charity – raising money for MND.
Keep going, and watch out for any real illegal migrants!
We received a huge number of urgent complaints from…
