There’s something seriously fishy about the EU’S double standards
Brexit talks have been hampered by an outbreak of the dreaded virus on the EU side, but they already appeared to be somewhat stuck, as they have been for months, on the issues of fish and regulation. The French want the right to fish in our waters forever, and in return they want us to follow all their regulations forever. Something about that deal sounds fishy.
As it happens, this week brought two pieces of fish news that neatly illustrate the EU’S hypocrisy. The first was that a British Overseas Territory in the south Atlantic, a tiny speck of land called Tristan da Cunha, has joined a UK scheme called the Blue Belt programme and made a vast tract of ocean into a conservation zone.
The second was that the UK took up its seat at an Atlantic conservation forum for the first time and immediately proposed a ban on hunting the highly endangered Mako shark. Canada and Senegal liked the idea but the EU,
There’s no reason Britain should not be fully in charge of its own waters
beholden to the interests of Portuguese and Spanish shark fishermen, blocked the move.
It would be hard to find better examples of EU double standards. Brussels is intent on forcing the UK to adopt “level playing field” clauses in any trade deal because of its obsession that Brexiteers will otherwise throw out all regulations.
In fact, it’s Britain that should be demanding the EU adhere to our higher standards. Whether it’s animal welfare, carbon emissions, conservation or employment law, the UK consistently out-regulates our neighbours, and I would be willing to bet that we’ll do exactly the same as soon as we are allowed to leave the Common Fisheries Policy.
A country where a documentary about fish was the most popular television programme of 2017 is one that ought to be in charge of its own stocks.
The Today programme has supposedly replaced the sexist term “fisherman” with the frankly odd term “fisher people”. It may just be that I am currently parent to a toddler, but Fisher People sounds to me more like a set of garish plastic toys than a type of gainful employment.