Sir Keir Starmer has been warned he faces mounting pressure to accept a three-year fishing rights deal with the European Union.
In a debate that has been ongoing since the UK's accession into the European Economic Community in the 1970s, access to Britain's coastal waters have returned to the negotiating table.
In an exclusive investigation by the UK Fisheries Campaign and GB News, in association with Facts4EU and CIBUK, sources in Brussels stressed the EU will not accept a deal unless there is at least a three-year fishing deal.
Such a scenario would ensure EU vessels maintain access to UK waters for up to 14 years after the British people voted to leave the Brussels bloc.
The UK's former Brexit negotiator issued a statement in October 2021
GBNThe demand comes after a statement from Lord Frost, the UK's former Brexit negotiator, dated in October 2021, exposed the disagreements on fishing.
He said: "I would like to set out where things stand between the UK and the EU on fisheries and related issues, and why recent French rhetoric and threats, potentially leading to a breach by the EU of its Treaty obligations, are such an important matter for us.
"We have been in talks with the EU Commission for weeks on fisheries licensing and have granted 98 per cent of applications. We do so in good faith and are fully delivering on our TCA obligation - to license vessels which can prove they have actually fished previously in our six to 12nm limit.
"That is why we are concerned and surprised by the comments seemingly made by [French PM] Jean Castex to [EU Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen that: 'it is indispensable to show European public opinion that... it causes more damage to leave the EU than to stay in.'"
Lord Frost hoped the opinion from Castex was "not held more widely across the EU". Frost explained that seeing this rhetoric was "very troubling and problematic".
Frost continued: "This is all the more so as the threats made by France this week to our fishing industry, to energy supplies, and to future cooperation, [for example] through the Horizon research programme, unfortunately form part of a pattern that has persisted for much of this year.
"As I set out yesterday to [EU Commission Vice-President] Maros Sefcovic, these threats, if implemented on 2 November, would put the EU in breach of its obligations under our trade agreement. So we are actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings as set out in Article 738 of the TCA.
"For our part, we will continue to implement our obligations under the TCA. We will continue to talk constructively to try to resolve all the differences between us, and we urge the EU and France to step back from rhetoric and actions that make this more difficult."
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Given that the EU Commission had made no claim against the UK in its management of fishing rights and the UK had been extremely generous in its interpretation of the clauses regarding fishing licences; the behaviours, actions, and threats by the French could have been in violation of Article 8.
The article states: "The Union shall develop a special relationship with neighbouring countries, aiming to establish an area of prosperity and good neighbourliness, founded on the values of the Union and characterised by close and peaceful relations based on cooperation."
On October 31, 2021, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, raised concerns about French rhetoric over fishing licences.
No10 stated: "The Prime Minister also raised his concerns about the rhetoric from the French Government in recent days over the issue of fishing licences. The Prime Minister stressed that the French threats are completely unjustified and do not appear to be compatible with the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement or wider international law.
Boris Johnson raised concerns in 2021
GETTY"The Prime Minister reiterated that the UK has granted 98 per cent of licence applications from EU vessels to fish in the UK's waters and is happy to consider any further evidence for the remaining two per cent."
By October 31, Macron had avoided fishing licences and left the attacks to his Minister for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, and his Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin, who had expressed undiplomatic language about the UK.
On the morning of October 31, Clément Beaune replied to Lord Frost's statement accusing him of "spin".
Former Welsh Secretary Sir John Redwood commented on the current situation, calling the French conduct over fishing rights in 2021 "outrageous".
Redwood stated: "The UK was more than generous in offering continuing rights to fish in our waters for any EU or French boat that had been fishing before. The UK government made it all too easy for French boats to qualify with a minimum of proof of past fishing activity. They told the UK fishing industry it had to put up with the bulk of the catch still going to the EU for a long period of transition up to 2026.
"Despite this President Macron proposed a blockade of our vessels and even threatened cutting off electricity. The EU did not stand behind the unreasonable and belligerent French approach.
"Our fishing communities now expect us to take back control after the transition, and to ensure most of the fish caught in UK waters are at last landed in UK ports for processing. This is a huge opportunity to rebuild our industry."
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