Being granted the correct paperwork to fish in British waters is a “matter of life and death” for those working in the Channel, French fishermen have said, amid ongoing talks to settle a licences row between Paris and Britain.
Jeremy Lhomel, a fisherman based in the costal town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, told reporters today he and others had sent off the necessary paperwork to prove they have previously fished in UK waters, but never heard anything back. He went after British ministers for acting in “bad faith” as a result.
The UK has promised to hold “intensive” fisheries talks with France, following Emmanuel Macron’s decision not to sanction British vessels starting on Tuesday. In a statement earlier, Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, would be flying to Paris on Thursday to meet with Clement Beaune, France’s European affairs secretary, in a bid to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, Downing Street has confirmed the detained British trawler, which sparked this entire row, has not been released by French authorities and remains in the port of Le Havre, northern France. This is despite environment secretary George Eustice telling Sky News earlier the “vessel has now been released”.
It came as DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson pushed back his threat to collapse power-sharing at Stormont over the party’s opposition to the Northern Ireland protocol, saying he was prepared to give negotiations “a little more time” because they seemed to be progressing.
Warning that “real and decisive progress” in the talks between the UK and Brussels must be made within weeks, he said: “It would be churlish in the face of that progress to now move precipitously in relation to what I have warned about if we don’t get the outcome that we need.”
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Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s rolling coverage from Westminster and further afield. Stay tuned for the latest updates on the ongoing post-Brexit fishing dispute between the UK and France.
Macron backs down on fisheries threats
For the time being, France has decided not to follow through with threats to close its ports to British fishing vessels and increase custom checks.
Emmanuel Macron said that he would see whether progress was made on fisheries talks on Tuesday.
The ongoing row between the UK and France concerns the number of fishing licences given to French fishermen to operate in British waters.
Eustice ‘welcomes’ de-escalation of post-Brexit row
After Emmanuel Macron, the French president, postponed introducing punitive sanctions yesterday evening, the environment secretary George Eustice said: “We welcome obviously the fact that France has stepped back from the threats that they were making last Wednesday.
“We had an agreement on fisheries that we all concluded at the end of last year — we’ve been implementing that in good faith. There’s now around 1,700 EU vessels licensed to fish in our waters.”
Asked whether it was a backdown by Paris, he replied: “It’s a decision from the French to step back from the threats that they made last Wednesday — we welcome that.
“We’ve always said we want to de-escalate this, we’ve always said we have an ever open door to discuss any further evidence the EU might have for additional vessels they want licensed,” he told Sky News.
He added of a British boat detained last week by French authorities: “I understand that that vessel has now been released.
“There’s going to need to be further discussions. There clearly was an administrative error at some point — we haven’t quite got to the bottom of that yet — but yes that vessel I understand is being released.”
PM ‘bluffing all along’ with Brexit, says French politician
A politician in Emmanuel Macron’s party has accused Boris Johnson of “bluffing all along” with Brexit.
Asked by the BBC if the prime minister has been bluffing, Bruno Bonnell, of En Marche!, said: “Of course he is, as usual, he’s been bluffing all along.”
He added that Mr Johnson has been “continuously pretending that Brexit will have no impact, no effect, on the UK lifestyle”.
DUP push back threat to collapse Stormont over NI protocol
The DUP will not withdraw ministers from Stormont yet in protest at the Northern Ireland protocol, its leaders has said.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had previously said he would collapse the executive at the start of November.
Explaining his decision to delay the move, he said he was prepared to give negotiations “a little more time” because they seemed to be progressing.
“It would be churlish in the face of that progress to now move precipitously in relation to what I have warned about if we don’t get the outcome that we need,” he said.
The DUP leader added that he expected “real and decisive progress” to be made within weeks.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson
” height=”726″ width=”982″ srcset=”https://static.independent.co.uk/2021/09/14/08/newFile-1.jpg?width=640&auto=webp&quality=75 640w” layout=”responsive” class=”i-amphtml-layout-responsive i-amphtml-layout-size-defined” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”> DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson
‘Smart’ motorway should not be rollout out until safety assured, say MPs
The government should pause its rollout of “smart” motorways until the safety of motorists is guaranteed, MPs have warned.
Campaigners have long called the roads “death trap highways” due to the lack of hard shoulders, which they say puts drivers at greater risks of accidents.
Conservative MP Huw Merriman, chair of the transport committee, said: “It is right we do [scrutinise] because lives have been lost and many motorists feel unsafe using them. More action is needed to demonstrate their worth.”
My colleague Adam Forrest reports:
France releases British scallop trawler
France has released a British scallop trawler it impounded last week, a British minister has confirmed.
Speaking to Sky News, environment Secretary George Eustice said the Scottish-registered Cornelis Gert Jan, which had been kept in Le Havre, has now been released. He blamed its detention on “an administrative error”.
“I understand that vessel has now been released and I think there’s going to need to be some further discussions, clearly there was an administrative error at some point,” he said.
Inside Politics
In our daily politics newsletter, Matt Mathers takes a look at Boris Johnson’s decision to fly back from the Cop26 climate summit in a private jet.
Video: Eustice defends government over lack of disability access at Cop26
Israel’s energy minister said she was unable to attend talks at the Cop26 climate conference yesterday because the venue did not have disability access.
Defending the British government, environment secretary George Eustice said that Israel had not told the UK that she had “particular access needs”.
