Royal Navy ordered to Jersey as French fishermen prepare blockade
The Royal Navy is being deployed to Jersey amid fears that French fishermen will blockade the island’s main port today as the row over post-Brexit fishing arrangements escalates.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday sent two patrol vessels to St Helier following a phone call with Senator John Le Fondre´, Jersey’s Chief Minister.
More than 60 French fishing vessels were expected to arrive in the port today to protest over access to the waters around the island. The fishermen – angered by Jersey’s decision to place new restrictions on fishing licences permitting access to its waters – have threatened to bring the island ‘‘to its knees’’.
Yesterday, a Downing Street spokesman said: ‘‘The prime minister and chief minister stressed the urgent need for a deescalation in tensions and for dialogue between Jersey and France on fishing access.
‘‘The prime minister underlined his unwavering support for Jersey. He said that any blockade would be completely unjustified.
‘‘As a precautionary measure, the UK will be sending two offshore patrol vessels to monitor the situation.’’
The Ministry of Defence said yesterday that HMS Tamar, which was commissioned last year and is equipped with machine guns, had been deployed and would arrive today. The second, HMS Severn, is also on its way.
Lord Frost, the Cabinet minister in charge of EU relations, also held talks in Westminster yesterday to co-ordinate the UK’s response should the fishermen carry out their threat.
The row began on Wednesday when Annick Girardin, the French Minister of the Sea, said her country was prepared to cut Jersey’s energy supply unless it relented over access to UK waters.
The island – which gets 95 per cent of its energy from France – granted access to its waters to 41 French fishing vessels when 344 had applied for licences.
Paris also accuses it of unilaterally introducing new conditions beyond the Brexit deal, which limit where French fishermen can go and for how long and what machinery they can use. That prompted Girardin to issue her threat over electricity.
Yesterday, government sources accused Paris of sinking lower than Jersey’s Nazi occupiers during World War II. ‘‘At least when the Germans invaded they kept the lights on,’’ a source said.
Under the terms of the Brexit trade deal and fishing agreement, EU boats must prove they have fished waters in the past in order to get licences to continue operating around Jersey.
Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, and trade minister Greg Hands have contacted their French counterparts to raise concerns over what the UK believes to be a clear provocation.
The Telegraph now understands that Britain is drawing up plans to retaliate by reviewing its energy links with France in the wake of the row. A Whitehall source described France’s actions as ‘‘outrageous’’ and said the UK would have to take a more cautious view of the nation as an energy partner.
It is understood Britain could look at routing future giant power cable projects towards the Netherlands, which it now views as a more reliable partner than France, which a source said had ‘‘weaponised’’ its electricity exports.