Navy ‘to board French boats and arrest fishermen’ in event of no-deal Brexit ( Archived) (65)

Yeh ok you'd better get some new sails

We would be willing but there's probably no need.

UK Navy: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.

Irish Radio Person: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

UK Navy: This is the Captain of a UK Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Irish Radio Person: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

UK Navy: This is the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elisabeth, the largest ship in the UK fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers and numerous support vessels. I demand that YOU change your course 15 degrees north, that's one five degrees north, or countermeasures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.

Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

Off with his head,

Michael Cavanagh stands on the quayside in Killybegs, Ireland’s largest fishing harbour. He points at a docked trawler in Co Donegal port to give a sense of how large his own fishing boat is.

The Father McKee is the Greencastle man’s 65m trawler and is out with his sons in the north Bay of Biscay off France fishing for boarfish, a small fish used to make meal for feeding salmon. Cavanagh does not fish anymore – “too many birthdays”, says the 70-year-old.

The UK’s decision to exit the European Union and the potential closing of soon-to-be British waters, on top of existing restrictions, has made life stormier onshore for Irish fishermen like Cavanagh.

“We have more challenges ashore than when we are at sea,” says Cavanagh, buffeted by blustery Donegal weather on the quayside.

Even before negotiations on a trade deal between the EU and UK start on Monday, the two sides have already clashed over fishing rights. Fishing, it is feared, could be the biggest obstacle to a deal.

Brussels has tied any post-Brexit free trade agreement to a reciprocal deal on fisheries that will allow EU boats to fish in British waters and British-caught fish to be sold in EU markets.

In stark contrast, Britain’s negotiating position, set out last week, does not include fisheries as part of any future trade deal. Instead, the UK wants to stop European fishing vessels from accessing British waters and to negotiate any access and permitted catches on an annual basis.

Even though fishing accounts for just 0.1 per cent of the UK economy, the sector has become totemic of Boris Johnson’s dogged “take back control” political agenda heading into the trade negotiations. Protecting British waters have become a visceral symbol of Johnson’s post-Brexit vision. It is not surprising; Brexit and his trade plans enjoy strong support in the UK’s depleted coastal fishing communities. However, there are practical problems to his negotiating position.

You do know the English have sold off most of their fishing rights and its just posturing ?
Also fish don't recognise borders, so to prevent overfishing there has been an accord within all the countries concerned to all members benefit. It's a complex issue.
I think its just pandering to the base & jingoism on johnson's part given how negligible the industry is in the overall scheme of things.

What a load of misinformation and false news, you know nothing about the English position on this.

But you might take note of what BoJo says, somebody said he was Prime Minister of the UK with a huge majority