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France has ignored Britain’s plans to deploy Royal Navy ships to protect the country’s fishing rights in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
“Keep calm and carry on,” an Elysee official told Reuters on Saturday, citing Britain’s wartime catchphrase in response to London’s decision to allocate four gunboats to prevent illegal fishing. They declined to comment further.
The Defense Ministry has confirmed that four 80-meter armed vessels are on standby to protect British waters from European trawlers if there are no new Brexi agreement on fishing rights after December 31, when the transitional agreements are finalized.
Boris Johnson has been accused of “irresponsible” behavior akin to that of an “English nationalist” after the Royal Navy gunboats were readied to patrol UK waters.
It comes as negotiations on a trade deal between the UK and the EU will end on Sunday, with both sides acknowledging that a no-deal result more likely than not.
Reports have suggested that UK military helicopters will also be available next year and that ministers are seeking to increase the powers that authorize the Navy to board vessels and arrest fishermen.
Reciprocal access to the waters will end next year, although Brussels has asked that the current terms continue for 12 months, a request that appears to have been rejected.
Tobias Ellwood, Conservative Chairman of the Commons Defense Committee, called the threat to deploy the Navy “irresponsible”, adding that the UK’s enemies would be “enjoying” seeing Britain “take on a close ally of NATO “.
Fishing in UK waters remains a sticking point in trade negotiations. Stock Image
Meanwhile, former Conservative Cabinet Minister Lord Patten accused Johnson of behaving like an “English nationalist”.
The decision to prepare the Navy, which will likely be read as a warning in Brussels on fishing rights, comes after Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned of significant differences between London and Brussels. in business negotiations.
Johnson chaired a meeting with senior UK officials on Friday night to assess the situation.
Former Defense Minister Ellwood told BBC Radio 4’s Today show: “I think these headlines are absolutely irresponsible. We have to focus on what’s already on the stock: 98% of the deal is there, there are three or four pending issues “.
“Important as they are, let’s park those for the future. Let’s get this deal because economically, but more importantly, for international reputation it would be very damaging to Britain, it would be a step backward, a failure of statecraft.”
Lord Patten also told Today that he feared for the future of the UK under Johnson’s presidency.
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No-deal Brexit ‘looks very, very likely’
The former Conservative President and European Commissioner said: “Although I hope for the best, I fear the worst because it is very, very difficult to see what the plan is, how are we going to do it so brilliantly when we are out of this ‘cage’ of Europe, that for Of course we helped build because the main builder of the single market was Margaret Thatcher. “
French MEP Pierre Karleskind, chairman of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee, called for the rhetoric behind the reports to calm down.
He told Times Radio: “Let’s keep calm. Let’s stay calm.
“I was looking at a history book. The creation of the French Royal Navy took place in 1294 in response to naval battles between French and English fishermen. So this is a very, very long history between our two nations.
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“You’re saying it’s about fish, but let’s think for just a few seconds. Do you really think it’s just about fish that are and will be used by Navy ships? I don’t.”
Trade talks remain stalled on fishing rights and the so-called level playing field, amid fears that the UK is tied to future EU standards.
However, other conservatives have called for tougher action, with Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski tweeting on Friday that naval forces should be deployed in the New Year “to prevent illegal French fishing in our waters.”
Admiral Lord West, the former chief of naval staff, also said he agreed with the Royal Navy being used to protect UK waters from foreign fishing vessels without a deal.
Former Defense Minister Tobias Ellwood, Conservative Chairman of the Commons Defense Committee. Stock Image
Describing the nuts and bolts, Lord West told Today: “There are complications in the fact that you can push the boats aside, you can cut your fishing tackle, but when boarding these foreign boats they will probably have to pass a little detail. by parliament to give authority to board. and get on them. “
Ursula von der Leyen confirmed on Friday that the two parties “have not yet found the solutions to bridge our differences” on fisheries.
He urged the government to “understand the legitimate expectations of the EU fishing fleets based on decades, and sometimes centuries, of access.”
Johnson said he was “hopeful” that progress can be made.
Chief Trade Negotiators Michel Barnier and Lord Frost will talk over the weekend in Brussels.
A mobile barrier was implemented on the M20 as part of Operation Brock.
Meanwhile, sections of the M20 were closed overnight while a motorway test is being conducted as part of a “dress rehearsal” for possible post-Brexit traffic problems.
The plan, known as Operation Brock, is to ease congestion in Kent if traffic stalls due to disruption caused if the UK leaves the EU without a deal and there is no longer frictionless trade.
Analysis: UK sends a message to Macron and Barnier
By Rob Powell, Political Correspondent
Separating the theatrical from the substance in the Brexit saga can often be a difficult task. Not today.
Last night’s confirmation from the Defense Ministry that four Navy ships are on standby to deter EU ships in the event of no deal sounds alarming.
“We will send gunboats,” shouts the front page of the Daily Mail this morning.
It is actually the job of these four ‘high seas patrol vessels’ to safeguard UK waters.
Admiral Lord West, former Chief of Naval Staff. Stock Image
“Chasing naughty fishermen” is how a former Navy sailor describes his task.
So it’s no wonder they are used in the New Year, whatever Brexit deal is struck.
But the fact that this story has been confirmed by the Defense Ministry and has made it to the front pages tells us something.
Fishing is one of the few areas where the UK has a high degree of influence over the European Union.
If there is no deal, French fishing fleets that depend on UK waters for a living will lose all access.
That could decimate coastal communities on the other side of the Canal and be politically toxic to French President Emmanuel Macron.
In preparing this story, the UK is sending a message to him and Michel Barnier that it takes the lack of agreement seriously.
Flex your muscles instead of revealing new facts.
As was always the case with Brexit.
