France fishing row – live: UK must engage in talks ‘constructively,’ Frost told as British boat still detained

Following my last post, here’s our political editor Andrew Woodcock with more detail on the meeting between Lord Frost and Maros Sefcovic.

More from Lord Frost’s meeting with Maros Sefcovic now. Britain’s Brexit minister told the EU the UK government could launch “dispute settlement proceedings” if France goes ahead with its threats over the fishing row.

A UK Government spokesman said:

“Lord Frost also set out to the vice president our concerns about the unjustified measures announced by France earlier this week to disrupt UK fisheries and wider trade, to threaten energy supplies, and to block further co-operation between the UK and the EU, for example on the Horizon research programme.

“Lord Frost made clear that, if these actions were implemented as planned on 2 November, they would put the European Union in breach of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

“The government is accordingly considering the possibility, in those circumstances, of launching dispute settlement proceedings under the TCA, and of other practical responses, including implementing rigorous enforcement processes and checks on EU fishing activity in UK territorial waters, within the terms of the TCA.”

Back to the fishing row now. Brexit minister David Frost and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic have discussed the ongoing dispute between the UK and France today.

Following a pre-arranged meeting in London, to discuss the Northern Ireland Protocol, a European Commission spokesman said Mr Sefcovic had urged the UK to “engage constructively” with proposals over the post-Brexit agreement.

“In addition, the vice president encouraged the UK to intensify discussions with the European Commission and France in order to swiftly resolve the issue of pending fishing licences. All French vessels entitled to a licence should receive one,” the spokesman said.

“Discussions on the protocol will continue next week. The vice president and David Frost will meet in Brussels on 5 November.”

Some non-Brexit related news now. Campaigners have celebrated the government’s pledge to act to help break the menopause taboo at a rally outside Parliament.

MPs and TV personalities including Davina McCall, Penny Lancaster and Mariella Frostrup were among the crowd in Parliament Square.

They all cheered the government’s announcement that the cost of repeat prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for those experiencing symptoms of the menopause in England will be significantly reduced.

Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who tabled the Menopause (Support and Services) Bill, said she was “really, really pleased” with the move.

She told PA:

“It’s only the beginning, there’s a long way to go but we’ve made a huge step forward today for women.

“It was the right thing to do and we know that women from now on will be taken seriously and that the menopause will not be something that we’ll hide under the carpet any longer.”

MPs are warning that “insufficient care” in changes to how farmers receive subsidies has led to a “haphazard” transition process, risking livelihoods.

After Brexit, the government is replacing the EU’s agricultural subsidies with a new payment system designed to help farmers while also boosting biodiversity, protecting soils and improving access to land, reports our environment correspondent Harry Cockburn.

While the old EU system largely paid farmers based on the area of land they farmed, there are concerns the new system, known as the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, could inadvertently put greater pressures on farmers to extract money from their land.

Veteran Tory MP John Redwood has called for the UK to get tough over fishing rights and ban supertrawlers from damaging fishing grounds and “taking too many of our fish”.

But EU diplomats back France in the fishing dispute and have no sympathy with the UK, according to a Sky News correspondent.

Fishermen in France’s biggest fishing port say Brexit is a “big problem” and blamed politicians for the escalating row with the UK.

In Boulogne-sur-Mer, on the northern French coast, some of the fleet have been unable to fish in British waters following Brexit, locals say.

Fisherman Kurt Bigot said he was angry, pointing to boats in the harbour that had been refused new licences to fish in UK waters. “It’s a big problem,” he added.

Mr Bigot’s crewmate agreed, telling PA: “There’s good friendship between England and France, good (between) fishermen.

“But politics (between) France and England – bad.”

British fishermen may be avoiding sailing too close to France amid the debacle.

There are very few UK-registered boats off the French coast, and none near Le Havre, where the Cornelis Gert Jan is being held, according to a Dutch journalist.