Chief Whip and PM try to reassure ‘angry’ Brexiteers
THE BOSS of a major fish market says important unanswered questions remain about the future of fishing post-Brexit – including the price of fish and chips.
While the objectives of the Government’s new fisheries policy White Paper were broadly welcomed, one of the UK’s most important fish markets, Grimsby Fish Market, said tariffs could have a major impact on imports and it was unlikely to bring extra boats to the East Coast.
Chief executive Martyn Boyers said: “It is a positive message – it does open opportunities to catch fish and trade more. But the hard part is yet to come – everything from questions on quotas to tariffs has not been decided.”
Mr Boyers said people assumed that as the UK was surrounded by sea most of its fish was locally sourced, when in fact fish and chip shop staples cod and haddock arrive in the Humber from non-EU countries, Norway and Iceland.
He said: “Eighty per cent of the fish we consume is imported and 70 per cent of what we catch is exported. For people who like fish and chips it may be £6 or £7 – but if it gets to £10 people will not buy it.”
Scarborough MP and former Tory Minister Robert Goodwill echoed Prime Minister Theresa May, who said the plans showed that the UK “was taking back control”.
However he said that with most of the shellfish landed in Scarborough and Bridlington being exported to France and Spain, a good trade deal was needed which allowed “frictionless logistics so that they arrive alive without undue delays over the English Channel”.
Ministers said the UK will continue to abide by the EU-wide Common Fisheries Policy during the transition period, but from 2020, the UK will negotiate access to its waters as an independent coastal state.
Access to waters and fishing opportunities will be negotiated on an annual basis in a similar approach as other coastal states including Norway, the Government said.
The fishing White Paper also sets out ways for “fairer” allocation of fishing opportunities based on the distribution of fish stocks and moving away from a system based on fishing patterns from the 1970s.
It also includes a commitment to publishing an annual statement on health of fish stocks based on the latest scientific evidence, with comprehensive recovery plans to restore struggling stocks to healthy levels.
However Mike Hookem, MEP for the Yorkshire and Humber and Ukip fisheries spokesman, said without strong commitments on what the Government aim to achieve in fishing postBrexit the announcement was “nothing more than a continuation of the smoke and mirrors approach to fishing we have seen all too often in the past.”
And he said the announcement left “many gaps and vagaries that could be used to further out-sell Britain’s fishing industry in the future”.
In the Commons Shadow Environment Secretary Sue Hayman tackled Environment Secretary Michael Gove over future customs arrangements, saying they were “key” to the industry.
She said: “Given reports that the Secretary of State physically ripped up the Prime Minister’s preferred customs options, it is clear that the big decisions for the negotiations – including those on fishing – are a long way from being agreed.”
But Mr Gove insisted that “through a future economic partnership, which is a separate negotiation, we (will) continue to have as frictionless as possible access to European markets”.
He said European chief negotiator Michael Barnier “wants to ensure the free trade agreement that will be concluded between the UK and the EU has neither quotas nor tariffs”. THERESA MAY and her Chief Whip have attempted to reassure Eurosceptics who are “angry” over suggestions the Prime Minister may attempt to force through a “soft Brexit” with the UK keeping close ties to the EU.
The Prime Minister is trying to find a compromise that will secure support from both wings of her Cabinet at a meeting at Chequers on Friday.
But more than 40 Eurosceptics met Chief Whip Julian Smith to air their concerns about the prospect of a soft Brexit which would restrict the UK’s freedom to diverge from EU rules in future.
In an attempt to address concerns, Mrs May said at Prime Minister’s Questions the Government would ensure the UK leaves the customs union, single market, European Court of Justice, end free movement and have an “independent trade policy”.
But Brexiteer European Research Group (ERG) chair Jacob Rees-Mogg hit out at reports Ministers would be asked to support close alignment on rules for goods and tariffs, stressing it was “hard to think of a worse idea”.
In a sign of the tensions within the Tory ranks, one MP said a meeting of the ERG on Tuesday night was the “angriest” he had ever been to “even stretching back to Maastricht” – referring to the bitter battles fought during Sir John Major’s premiership.
In the subsequent meeting with the Chief Whip, ERG MPs set out demands for the Brexit white paper, and expressed concern about the role being played by Olly Robbins, the PM’s Europe adviser and senior official involved in negotiations with the EU.
And there were demands for a greater emphasis to be placed on preparing for a “no deal” Brexit.
Morley and Outwood MP Andrea Jenkyns urged Cabinet Brexiteers to stand up for Leave voters, urging Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Penny Mordaunt, Liam Fox, Andrea Leadsom and Chris Grayling, “show your steel on Friday”, adding: “We know some of you want to be party leader.”