Boris faces Brexiteer backlash over fishing

BORIS Johnson was facing a backlash from Brexiteers last night after suggestions emerged that he had made major concessions on fishing to secure a deal.

After four years of brutal wrangling, the entire deal appeared to come down to fish stocks worth less than £60million.

The Prime Minister told allies he made significant compromises in recent days, while French politicians were last night briefing that he made ‘ huge concessions’ over the past 48 hours, mostly on access to fishing in UK waters.

sources in the UK and Europe last night suggested the EU would hand back 25 per cent of its current quota from British waters, with the cuts phased in over five and a half years. The EU started negotiations wanting to give back just 15 per cent over a decade. But the final agreement is still some way from the UK’s opening gambit of clawing back 60 per cent over just three years.

Hardline Brexiteer Nigel Farage last night described the deal as a sell- out before he had even seen it.

He tweeted: ‘It sounds like the British team have dropped the ball before the line. No wonder they want a Christmas Eve announcement to hide the fisheries sell-out.’ Before the rumoured details were reported last night, Brexit supporters were already voicing caution about the terms of a deal.

Mark Francois, chairman of the ErG group of Eurosceptic MPs, said: ‘Assuming a deal between UK and the EU is officially confirmed tonight, the ErG will tomorrow reconvene the panel of legal experts... to examine the details and legal text.’