London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 24, 2025

UK and France blame each other over fishing row stalemate

UK and France blame each other over fishing row stalemate

Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron remain at loggerheads in the ongoing dispute over permits for fishing boats.

On Sunday, the leaders met to discuss tensions and the UK government said it was "up to France" to step back from threats over port access.

But Mr Macron said the ball was "in Britain's court" and he hoped there would be a positive response on Monday.

Mr Macron added it was not a bilateral issue for the nations but an EU issue.

The row comes ahead of Tuesday, which is the deadline for more licenses to be granted for French fishing boats to operate in British waters.

Otherwise UK fishing boats could be barred from some ports, French officials have warned.

Following the meeting on Sunday, French officials said the pair had agreed to work on a solution in the "next hours and days".

But later, a spokesman for Mr Johnson said no measures had been agreed.

Mr Johnson said it was a "wide ranging and frank discussion", and insisted that should be expected "between long standing friends and very, very close allies".

On Friday, a letter from the French Prime Minister Jean Castex to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, seen by the BBC, said the EU must demonstrate in this dispute that there was "more damage to leaving the EU than remaining there".

Mr Johnson said he was "puzzled" by the letter: "I must say I was puzzled to read a letter from the French prime minister explicitly asking for Britain to be punished for leaving the EU.

"I just have to say to everybody I don't believe that that is compatible either with the spirit or the letter of the Withdrawal Agreement or the Trade and Cooperation agreement, and that's probably all I'll say about that one."


It was perhaps inevitable there'd be a moment - or more than one moment - where the Brexit deal, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, would be tested.

The new legal arrangements between the UK and EU set out how the two sides should interact, after decades of shared rules with the UK inside the bloc.

First there were the rows about the Northern Ireland Protocol. And now fish.

Strikingly, the prime minister has leant into the leaked letter from his French opposite number, Jean Castex, which had said the EU must demonstrate there was "more damage to leaving the EU than remaining there."

Whatever the subsequent questions about the translation of chunks of the letter, Boris Johnson chose to point to it as a source of not just irritation, but something "not compatible with the spirit or letter" of the Brexit agreement.

This brouhaha isn't done yet.

An earlier statement on behalf of Mr Johnson said he had "reiterated his deep concern over the rhetoric emanating from the French government in recent days, including the suggestion by the French prime minister that the UK should be punished for leaving the EU".

And it said Mr Johnson had "expressed his hope that the French government would de-escalate this rhetoric and withdraw their threats".

The PM's spokesman then went further, adding: "It's down to France to decide if they want to step away from the deeply concerning threats.

"We are not seeking to escalate this. We would welcome it if they de-escalate and withdraw the threats they have made. [But] it will be for the French to decide."

The two leaders held a 30-minute informal meeting in Rome, where leaders of the world's richest economies, the G20, have been holding talks.

A French official said: "We see that Boris Johnson is trying to make the fishing story a French-UK affair. It is a post-Brexit affair which should be handled between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

"And what we are asking for from the British is that they respect their signature."

Trucks and electricity


Although fishing is a small part of both the British and French economies, it has played a large part politically throughout Brexit.

But this particular row began after a British trawler was seized by France and another fined during checks off Le Havre on Thursday.

Since then, the wider issue of how many licenses the UK grants to France post-Brexit to fish in British waters has come to the fore.

France was angered by a decision from the UK and Jersey last month to deny fishing licences to dozens of French boats and argued this breached the Brexit deal.

It then warned it would block British boats from landing their catches in some French ports next week and tighten checks on UK boats and trucks if the dispute over fishing licences was not resolved by Tuesday.

France has also said it could cut electricity supplies to Jersey, a British Crown dependency, as it previously threatened in May.


For a brief moment, it looked like the row over fishing licences might be about to calm down - but it was only brief.

It is unusual to get quite such contradictory accounts of the same meeting.

Of course, both men have home crowds to which they want to play.

And over recent years, we've also got used to hearing punchy statements in the heat of diplomatic negotiations.

But what will worry some is the possibility that this could be more than negotiating "theatre" and instead a sign of a growing lack of mutual trust between two important allies.

Speaking on Saturday, Mr Johnson acknowledged there was "turbulence" in the UK's relationship with France.

But he insisted the things that united the two countries were more important than their divisions.

However, taking to Twitter, his Brexit minister Lord Frost said on Saturday the government was "actively considering" launching a legal process against France under the Brexit agreement, as a result of the "threats".

He tweeted: "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."

On Sunday, France's minister for Europe, Clément Beaune, replied to Lord Frost, saying France had been "negotiating patiently and constructively for 10 months".

He rejected claims there had been technical issues leading to the problems, saying: "It's not a technical issue, it's a political choice and a breach of the [Brexit deal]."

He added: "A friend, ally and responsible partner should stand by its word and comply with legal commitments."


 Watch: The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg pressed the PM on Saturday over how he planned to remedy the fishing row


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
×