October 28, 2021

France’s ambassador in London was summoned and two Royal Navy patrol vessels were put on a state of “high readiness” to tackle potential port blockades by French fishing boats as the row over post-Brexit access to British waters escalated.

The dramatic moves followed French threats to clog British exports in red tape over a lack of fishing licences for their fishing vessels and inflammatory claims that Downing Street had made a “political choice” to damage the country’s coastal communities.

With tensions high, UK government defence sources said they were awaiting a distress call from Jersey, a British crown dependency, as the row over post-Brexit fishing rights looked in danger of bubbling over.

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