Boxed in by joker Boris
BORIS Johnson playfully squares up to French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20 summit – as the fishing rights row got uglier.
Brexit minister Lord Frost last night confirmed the UK is “actively considering” triggering a dispute under the trade deal.
He condemned “French threats to our fishing industry, energy supplies, and future cooperation” after the country seized a British trawler it accused of breaking rules.
And he slammed a “very troubling and very problematic” letter from French PM Jean Castex, urging the EU to show “leaving the Union is more damaging than remaining”.
France insists it is not getting a fair number of licences to fish in British waters.
It is threatening to block British boats from its ports and tighten checks on vessels if the issue is not resolved by Tuesday.
Mr Macron is accusing the UK of not keeping its Brexit pledges on fishing and said London lacked “credibility”.
But Mr Johnson “didn’t rule out” triggering the dispute mechanism in the Trade and Co-operation Agreement, which could lead to months of legal battles.
He went on to accuse France of breaking international law in a meeting with the European Commission President.
He told Ursula von der Leyen the UK had granted 98% of applications for EU boats to fish in UK waters. Ms von der Leyen responded: “The EU Commission is intensively engaging for finding solutions.”
Last night the skipper of the fishing row trawler said his vessel, the Cornelis Gert Jan, was still banned from leaving Le Havre. After more meetings with French authorities he said he expected to be there for a “while”.