During our time in the EEC/EU our merchant fleet and our fishing fleet suffered a bad decline. The ECJ striking down an Act of Parliament designed to promote our maritime activities did not help. The Common Fisheries Policy invited many more foreign fishing boats in to plunder our fishing grounds. The EU then imposed ever stricter quotas on U.K. fishing boats to reduce the impact of over fishing. A vicious circle was created denuding many of our great fishing ports of most of the trawlers that used to put to sea to fish our waters.
Rebuilding our fishing fleet should be an urgent priority. During the so called transition period we should be tougher on fishing by banning all the super trawlers of over 100 m in Length to help our fish stocks to rebuild. The government should work with private sector to put together boat finance, crew training and permits to fish to rebuild our lost fleet.
We should also reform the licensing, flagging and tax arrangements to make it more attractive for vessels to register in the U.K. Creating a larger flagged merchant fleet would stimulate more bunkering, victualling, repairs and refits in U.K. docks and yards. The MOD and other government buyers of vessels should usually buy from UK sources, to boost our shipbuilding capability. This could stimulate more private sector orders and construction. Some of our seaside towns need revival as they miss many of the maritime activities that used to be part of their commercial life.
February 23, 2022
Indeed and so many other potential Brexit wins are possible but alas as Sir IDS has said Sweet FA is being done. In fact quite the reverse is happening.
Sir Iain Duncan-Smith said Britain has âhuge opportunities nowâ to cut red tape in areas from finance to medical research, to ârecapture some of the real dynamismâ the economy needs, and move away from the EUâs âunwieldy, burdensomeâ model of pre-emptive regulation.
But instead the Government has failed to act and could miss its chance completelyâŠ
February 23, 2022
“Pre-emptive legislation”
Ah yes, the old listening to the science, and regulating dangerous products before they are marketed and cause a disaster nonsense, yes, that.
February 23, 2022
JR, what of Ben Habibâs article today questioning the spineless Johnson and Truss double standards to allow the EU to annexe N.Ireland and impose its laws and regulations on the rest of GB? While of course spouting about Russia taking Ukraine sovereignty etc. The end result being the same but the means being different.
All bluster once more, while Russia can see for itself how weak and pathetic Johnson really is in failing his own country by allowing the EU to bully him into submission of their will. No shot or tank required he turns belly up!
Frankly I do not care about Ukraine- the West should have kept its promises not to expand east and what about the West imposing its will on Serbia? What about Cameron claiming he wanted to expand the EU to the Urals?
A good distraction for this PM. It he has work at home.
February 23, 2022
NLH- The EU is a disaster. Without mandate from our 1975 referendum nor anyone else’s they (with Nato) annexed former USSR nations which eventually caused Brexit and has brought us to the brink of WW3.
I see from comments to various newspaper editorials (demanding action against Putin) that there is widespread sympathy with him .
February 24, 2022
It was the British Empire which annexed countries by force old chum.
The former Eastern Bloc countries were pounding the door of the European Union begging to be let in on the other hand.
They were admitted by the express wish of their peoples and by that of the already member countries.
Putin say that he wants to demilitarise the Ukraine. The European Union has no military there nor anywhere else, nor the capacity to put any there.
NATO is a different matter there again.
February 23, 2022
@ lifelogic – “Sir Iain Duncan-Smith said Britain has âhuge opportunities nowâ…” – No, no,no! Rather none at all that it did not have two to six years ago.
What Britain has is a Government too useless or worse to seize such opportunities. You bet it does!
February 23, 2022
Far fewer, actually, than it had seven years ago.
Ask the seafood fishers, pork producers, steel workers, car makers, etc. etc.
February 23, 2022
@NLH; “Far fewer [opportunities], actually, than it had seven years ago.”
Perhaps, if you only ever want to ‘export’ to the EU, on the other hand if your intent is the world market then the UK economy has far more opportunity now than it has had for the last 50 years, politicos willing…
February 24, 2022
Not much is coming of those “opportunities” is it?
February 24, 2022
@NLH; Rome was not built in a day, so to speak, indeed in the early 1970s it took a few years for the UK to switch away from our Commonwealth trading partners to those of the then EEC – nor was that period complicated by a worldwide pandemic!
February 23, 2022
Good morning.
Is this for fish that will be sold in the UK or exported elsewhere ? If in the UK, then fine. If we are to export it then I think we need to make sure that those markets are open to us first. I am not opposed to licensing to foreign trawlers so long as we in the UK can dictate what can and cannot be caught, how much can be caught and what percentage has to be landed in the UK. Just building boats and training people is not enough, there needs to be a whole support industry to go with it. eg Nets, boat maintenance etc. You can destroy an industry in just under a year (witness the hospitality industry) but it will take decades to grow it again.
February 23, 2022
Perhaps you would kindly look at the under-arming of the ENORMOUS Type 32 frigates under construction and then pressure the MoD to add some weapons to them. Under present plans, and for want of a modest investment, they will be little more than gin palaces that are no match for many an aggressor’s corvettes.
February 23, 2022
From what I can glean from this it is a cheaper Type 31 with emphasis on littoral combat and anti-mine warfare.
February 23, 2022
The Type 32, the follow-on, will deliver the MCM capability. The Type 31 lacks ship-to-ship missiles and torpedoes, relying on an embarked helicopter. The cost of correcting these capability shortfalls is modest in comparison to the programme cost. The Royal Navy and cheese-paring MoD seem to have gone out of their way to build a second-rate frigate the size of a County-class DLG.
February 23, 2022
You could also insist that the 4 close support vessels are built in Britain. No other country let’s foreign yards build fleet auxiliaries.
February 23, 2022
They’ll only get diverted to water borne taxi duties.
February 23, 2022
I believe that the Type 32 Frigate was commission to engage UKs soft power policy, to fly the flag but never engage in a sea battleâŠâsoft powerâ is the new byword of this government
February 23, 2022
glen cullen.
Unfortunately, there is no soft power without being a well armed, trained, and financially strong country!
February 23, 2022
BOF
Absolutely correct.
February 23, 2022
Thatâs the theory however in practise âsoft-powerâ replaces a well armed & trained militaryâŠ.note the continued reduction in UK military numbers
February 23, 2022
Speak softly and carry a big stick.
February 23, 2022
BOF. Quite right. Soft power is a danger to our armed forces. Don’t ask them to go in anywhere without being fully equipped as in the Falklands. Our boys were not well equipped with disastrous consequences for some as I know first hand. Do not ask them to do things with one arm tied behind them. It’s immoral.
February 23, 2022
Soft power requires a big stick.
February 23, 2022
@SW; Indeed! The govt needs to increase defense procurement, we urgently need to rebuild our navy’s capabilities, along with those of the other services. The post cold-war era was a mirage not a miracle, as was the idea that Soviet era communism had collapsed within the European theater.
February 23, 2022
Defence spending needs to be supported by a strong economy, otherwise you get overstretch and decline.
Britain already spends a vast sum on defence as a percentage of GDP. Furthermore a lot of that is wasteful – armoured vehicles that donât work, aircraft carriers with no planes etc. Value for money never seems to be a consideration.
February 23, 2022
@Peter; “Defence spending needs to be supported by a strong economy”
Yet strong defense spending also creates a strong(er) economy, both monitory and intellectually.
“armoured vehicles that donât work, aircraft carriers with no planes etc. Value for money never seems to be a consideration.”
Quite the opposite, the above recent failings have been products from the drive towards VFM!
February 23, 2022
Peter. Value for money??? What about life? Without proper equipment our forces are doomed.
February 23, 2022
The claim that Brexit is “done” is untrue as this and other posts by you demonstrate.
February 23, 2022
@oldtimer; Brexit will never be “done”, even if everything you want from it is delivered on a silver platter. Ask 1000 different people what Brexit is and you’ll get 1001 different answers, “Brexit” is a political concept-idea, a manifesto, not a set of policy.
February 23, 2022
Brexit is done. Itâs just crap – like we told you it would be and which you still refuse to accept.
February 24, 2022
Today, you might like to reflect on the ‘success’ of the EU’s foreign policy.
February 24, 2022
The European Union has no foreign policy in the sense that you mean.
Its member nations have their own, and may ad hoc act together at times.
Reply Another lie. The Commission leads on foreign policy and concerts their approach. The EU policy to Ukraine was to tell it to create powerful devolved governments in Luhansk and Donetsk in the hope that would appease Russia. The policy has failed.
February 24, 2022
Are you sure that it was ever implemented?
February 24, 2022
Sir John, please do not accuse people of lying when they are not.
I maintain that the European Union does not do foreign policy in the way that a nation state with a military does, and I sincerely believe that the poster above was implying that it did.
My post was qualified it that way.
reply The EU does direct military operations of EU flagged forces
February 24, 2022
@NLH but you are lying…
On the EU website under priorities and actions;
“The EU’s joint foreign and security policy, designed to resolve conflicts and foster international understanding, is based on diplomacy and respect for international rules. Trade, humanitarian aid, and development cooperation also play an important role in the EU’s international role.”
Also;
“A stronger Europe in the world
Strengthening the EUâs voice on the world stage by improving its standing as a champion of strong, open and fair trade, multilateralism and a rules-based global order. Boosting relations with neighbouring countries and partners as well as strengthening the EUâs ability to manage crises based on civilian and military capabilities.“
February 24, 2022
It does, but their nature and scope are quite different from those of a nation state.
February 24, 2022
@SW; Today, Thursday, you and others might like to reflect upon the last 30 years of ‘joined at the hip’ UK and USA foreign policy too…
February 24, 2022
It kept the peace here and in America
February 23, 2022
All very true and excellent ideas, but I’ve been posting about the need for a new fishing British fleet here since the day after we won the referendum. But, as usual, the appalling lethargy in Whitehall continues, and we all know that it is not limited to the Maritime sector, it is every facet of government that suffers from paralysis by over-analysis and much else besides. We still have a woefully under-equipped fishing sector with mainly older, smaller boats, poorly equipped for much more than inshore fishing.
I had hoped that JR-M’s appointment as Brexit taskmaster would turn things around, but last night I watched a re-run of an episode of “Yes, Prime Minister” and it reminded me of all the tricks the Civil Service pulls to neuter ministers who actually want to achieve something. With few exceptions ( like our host and his former late, great boss), Ministers either end up going native or being decisively outflankled at every turn.
The first change should be that ownership of fishing quota ( and Airport Landing Slots ) should be brought back under the direct control of central government and rented to users on an annual basis- they should no longer be able to be sold or traded. The UK will then have full control of exactly who fishes in its waters and the monopoly of the big airlines, like Spanish-owned British Airways will be broken.
Yes, it’s a form of Nationalisation, but an essential one.
February 23, 2022
A letter to my MP
Dominic,
There has been a lot of discussion on the internet about yourself, Boris, May, Rishi and other cabinet ministers being listed on the WEF website as members who have âinfiltrated the cabinetâ. Borisâ agenda of carbon zero is a WEF policy that nobody voted for. Mayâs migration obligations were a WEF policy nobody voted for.
The discussions have focused on whether it is possible for a politician to serve two masters.
So the question is, as Justice Minister, when you draft the new UK Bill of Rights are you going to serve your country and put in a clause saying something like âThe UK Bill of Rights is the supreme law of Great Britain and there are no laws between it and God.â
Or are you going to serve the World Economic Forum and omit this clause or put a clause subjugating the United Kingdom to supranational laws?
Regards
February 23, 2022
Javelin,
Good luck with getting a reply to that. You will be lucky to even get an acknowledgement .
February 23, 2022
I have little time for Mr Raab. I consider him an incompetent fool. But I do sympathise with MPs when they get letters from conspiracy theorists who are clearly extremist morons.
February 23, 2022
It would be interesting to know what your perceptions of the WEF are, Sir John. There’s next to nothing in the MSM, and judging by the current level of deception, bias and myopia, yesterday’s ‘conspiracy theories’ are becoming today’s realities. Probably, you’re well aware, but have decided to counter with the genuine article. Oh, that the culture would respond by the same token! That would take a miracle, sadly now hid from our eyes.
February 23, 2022
@Javelin; “Borisâ agenda of carbon zero is a WEF policy that nobody voted for”
I suspect your MP will thank you for the laugh, in effect! Did you not bother to read the 2019 Conservative manifesto? On page 1 of that document, as a personally endorsed “Guarantee” from Boris Johnson, it states;
Then, “being carbon neutral by 2050” is mentioned on page 3; “decarbonisation” is mentioned on page 34; “carbon-neutral” on page 36; along with at least another four mentions of this WEF inspired policy.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not disagree with your basic point, just the rather silly choice of argument, after all 43.4% of the electorate, a clear majority, did vote for such policies -knowingly or otherwise, I suspect the latter… đ
February 23, 2022
You bet!
February 23, 2022
As I have previously said, who are this “we” who should rebuild “our” fleets?
This is the private sector. If there is scope for expansion and for increased profits then the operators will do this.
However, with access to the main export market for premium fresh seafood greatly hindered by brexit our seafood fishers have been going bust instead.
As for shipping, that to the Continent has been hit by brexit red tape too.
If it were unnecessary legacy law that were the problem then there would be pressure and lobbying from the industries against this, but we hear little from them about it.
No, they have bigger problems, caused entirely by brexit.
February 23, 2022
@NLH You are correct that it is the private sector that needs to rebuild our (i.e. UK) fleets. Unfortunately the private sector is deterred from doing this by licenses granted to EU trawler owners after Brexit and by the terms of the TCA. I don’t care whether you think we should not have voted to leave the EU, but left we have and I am in no doubt that it is now necessary to ditch the agreement and take back full control of Northern Ireland. If the UK do not erect a border between NI and the RoI then we can’t be blamed for the consequences.
February 23, 2022
@NLH; “As for shipping, that to the Continent has been hit by brexit red tape too.”
You mean like how shipping to and from Australia, NZ, the Canada and the USA etc. was hit due to the EEC red tape that had to be implemented after Jan. 1973 (assuming the right to trade wasn’t banned outright)?
February 24, 2022
Where are the lobbyists from fishing and shipping hammering on the Government’s door to remove this-or-that legacy European Union law?
The ones that bother them are the ones over which they have now no say whatsoever, that is, the ones by which the European Union countries order themselves and prevent their easy access.
February 24, 2022
@NLH; Yes, lobbyists who shout the loudest, or who get published by the Europhile press etc – hearsay, it proves nothing, until someone cites some evidence that DEFRA are not talking to the fishing industry… I say that as someone (unlike you, I suspect) who lives close to a fishing port, knows people employed, or those who once were, in the industry, this also being a constituency where UKIP came from nowhere to secure second place at the 2015 general election.
February 23, 2022
As I recall the ECJ declared the Act to be incompatible with EU law and so Parliament repealed it. At that time I wasn’t paying enough attention to even be aware of it. I hadn’t wanted us to join the EEC in 1973 but come the 1975 referendum I reluctantly decided that to keep good relations with the neighbours we should allow it more of a go before finally deciding to give up on it. I then had no clear idea how it would inexorably develop towards a pan-European federation and how successive governments of both major parties plus assorted oddments would connive to lie to us about it and stubbornly deny us the right to directly say whether we wanted to go further or go back. Like many millions of people I had other things on my mind.
Somewhat off topic I remain to be convinced that we should be involved in what could be described as a border dispute on the other side of Europe, especially when we still have a running territorial dispute just across the sea in Ireland. Although the Irish government agreed to remove the formal claim to Northern Ireland from the constitution of the Republic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_2_and_3_of_the_Constitution_of_Ireland
it is pretty obvious that it is still there in the minds of majorities of the southern politicians and population and also in the minds of minorities in the north.
It is also increasingly clear that Boris Johnson and most of the top Tory politicians – Michael Gove, Brandon Lewis etc – and many of the MPs and much of the wider “Conservative and Unionist” party would be happy to go along with the unification of Ireland as a welcome relief from the trouble that the province continues to bring to the government in London, and blow what the unionists may think about that.
There’s an interesting article here:
https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2022/0221/1282149-ni-protocol/
with an EU official pointing out complications with the importation of olive oil into the province, but saying nothing about how the EU will prevent illicit goods being produced locally and taken across the border.
February 23, 2022
Here’s another interesting article in the Irish News today:
https://www.irishnews.com/opinion/columnists/2022/02/23/news/brian-feeney-we-need-a-unity-referendum-and-a-return-to-the-eu-2594731/
“Brian Feeney: We need a unity referendum and a return to the EU”
“The British were shocked that explicit in the deal between the new coalition partners in the German government there is a clause supporting the full implementation of the UK-EU treaty regarding Ireland. Last week the German European Affairs Committee discussed a report from its government on current affairs in the north and the protocol’s implementation. The French government closely monitors the UK’s failure to fulfil the terms of their obligations.”
February 23, 2022
And this, about the Joint Agency Task Force, which could perhaps add “illicit English olive oil” to its list:
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/gardai-detect-smuggled-kerosene-and-green-diesel-in-rural-crime-sting/
“The 2015 Fresh Start Agreement established the formal mandate for a cross border Joint Agency Task Force with the aim of bringing a concerted and enhanced effort to tackle cross-jurisdictional organised crime.
The Joint Agency Task force is led by senior officers from the PSNI, An Garda SĂochĂĄna, and other key partner agencies.
The current six strategic priorities identified for the cross border Joint Agency Task Force are:
Tobacco and fuel smuggling;
Synthetic drugs;
Human trafficking;
Rural crime (with cross-border dimension);
Financial crime;
Immigration.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-gets-tough-on-britain-over-post-brexit-citizens-rights/
“The U.K., meanwhile, continues to accuse the Commission of obsessing over hypothetical scenarios that it says have a very low likelihood of happening â such as illicit English olive oil finding its way into the EU single market through Northern Ireland unless it carries a custom code.”
February 23, 2022
I believe it’s the case most of what is caught in UK waters goes for export and most of the seafood the UK eats is imported. Try getting UK people to eat shellfish (no thanks).
British young people don’t want a life on the sea – all that cold and wet, getting up early and it doesn’t fit with flexible working.
So if foreign boats want to fish UK waters, regulate their activity and charge them for a license. Don’t bother trying to build up the UK fleets, people just don’t want it.
February 23, 2022
@Dave Andrews; “British young people donât want a life on the sea â all that cold and wet, getting up early and it doesnât fit with flexible working.”
EXACTLY, and never a truer word said unintentionally -I suspect!
PS, there is a lot of shellfish sold here in the UK, in fact one of the nations unofficial national dishes must surely be the Prawn Cocktail. Supermarkets sell quite a lot of Lobster too, never mind Crab in various forms.
February 23, 2022
Please do keep reminding HMG of what they should be doing – they need all the inspiration they can get.
Is Boris a closet remainer, as has been suggested in some quarters — the evidence of a botched Brexit makes it seem that way.
February 23, 2022
Brexit isnât botched. Itâs just crap. Like we told you it would be.
February 24, 2022
We will know that the country has finally awoken when brexit enters the lexicon of football commentators as in “He had an open goal staring him in the face and it should have been a shoe-in, but instead he made a complete brexit of it, Gary”
February 23, 2022
“Botched brexit” is a tautology, like “messy sewage works collapse” or “worrying reactor meltdown”.
February 23, 2022
Not usually buy from UK sources.
Always buy from UK sources. End off.
February 23, 2022
Emphatically yes Turbo. I have not KNOWINGLY bought any EU product since we voted leave, support British Industry and buy local if at all possible.
February 23, 2022
Government should only be allowed to buy British, after all its taxpayers money
February 23, 2022
MFD. Nor have I. Especially French.
February 24, 2022
Why, exactly?
I thought that you brexitists simply “loved Europe but hated the European Union”?
Sounds rather like a simple case of curtain-twitching neighbour hating to me.
February 23, 2022
Maybe if Ministers made such announcements we would believe something might happen. As of now. No chance. No vision. No guts. No action.
February 23, 2022
Maybe if Johnson stopped making unachievable ridiculous comments like threatening Putin with more NATO and pop gun sanctions he could concentrate on sorting out the total mess he has made of governing this country.
Or better still. Eff off. I have had enough of his BS and liesâ
February 23, 2022
Not only “pop gun sanctions” but ineptly formatted.As Ben Aris,editor of Business New Europe,has just tweeted out:
“UK Russia sanctions shambles.UK gets sanctioned bank address wrong,uses central bank address by mistake.
Johnson names oligarch Roman Abramovich by mistake-he is not on the list.Three oligarchs added to the sanctions list already sanctioned……pure incompetence.”
And take a look at these headlines from historically prestigious publications of record:
“Washington must prepare for war with both Russia and China”-Matt Koenig,Foreign Policy.
“China’s the main game.Removing Xi is how to play it.”-Paul monk,The Australian.
“America must prepare for war with China over Taiwan”-David Sauer,The Hill.
“What comes after the war on terrorism?The war on China”-Thomas L Friedman,New York Times.
Are you sure you want to be dutiful little vassals of these nutjobs?
February 23, 2022
Putin has taken the EU interpretation of Northern Ireland border to confiscate the Eastern Ukraine as a perverse reverse takeover only using tanks instead of tankers. Biden backed EU and so “What in God’s is ” right for the EU to do this too?
The Boris meanwhile sits on the fence about NI, fleets military and and fishing…
February 23, 2022
UKRetired123: I’d say Putin is acting more in accordance with NATO’s breakup of Serbia in 1999, when it declared Kosovo should be independent. At the 2007 Munich Security Conference, he hinted that he would be guided in future by what NATO had done: ignoring international borders. We can hardly feign surprise now. He gave us fair warning, after all.
Maybe the only good thing you could say about Johnson is that, if he’s sitting on the fence and going nowhere, at least he’s not going in the wrong direction. But we’ll see.
February 23, 2022
Interesting angle – thanks.
February 24, 2022
Correct.That Munich speech is probably the most important speech of this century todate.
February 23, 2022
Weird.
February 23, 2022
Before Brexit Northern Ireland wasn’t an issue. Now it is, and it is weakening the West. To Putin’s glee. Are you starting to get a feel for who the real winner of Brexit is?
February 23, 2022
For two years there has been very little done to regain control of our fishing grounds and your ‘blog’ today, Sir John, clearly illustrates that somewhere within Westminster progress is being blocked. You are close to the action so is it not time to name where this is happening?
Is it because we enshrined EU law into UK law so that we could change it easily that we are now discovering that it is very much more difficult than we thought? Also do we have remainer lawyers dragging their feet in the hope of wrecking Brexit?
February 23, 2022
It is MPs who repeal laws, not lawyers.
February 23, 2022
Many of whom are remainer lawyers.
February 23, 2022
Supreme Court.
February 24, 2022
No, the Courts cannot affect Statute, only Parliament can do that.
You really do need to grasp the basics of how this country works.
February 24, 2022
The courts can affect Parliament.
February 24, 2022
Go on, cite a case where a court has overruled the will of Parliament, clever clogs eh?
February 24, 2022
Look it up yourself NHL
From the rulings of Lord Denning to Hale there are loads of examples.
Fill your boots.
February 28, 2022
No, they absolutely did not.
February 23, 2022
Why would anyone commission a boat to be built here when it is dramatically cheaper to have them built in countries with labour costs that are a fraction of ours? Tomorrow, pass a law that halves wages and prices for everything. Oh, you couldnât do that because of the housing debt.
House prices, debt, the size of government and the obsession with imports are the root of all the problems this country faces.
February 23, 2022
If countries such as the Netherlands and Germany can build ships competitively, there is no reason why we should not be able to do the same.
There is a fundamental difference between our industry and that of Germany, and the Netherlands. We have millions of small businesses with less than ten employees struggling to make living in the face of high rates and utility bills and they have huge problems in raising finance to expand. We also have some very large businesses employing thousands. Crucially, there are very few in between.
I have lived and worked in Germany where there are a very large number of companies employing between 20 people and 1,000. These are big enough to take on large engineering tasks amongst other work, which our smaller businesse are simply not equipped to do. Building a whole fleet of new fishing vessels between 10m and 25m in length is probably beyond the capacity of our smaller yards.
We need to be blatant and copy what the Germans do, particularly making easy long term finance available, often with an element provided by the local authority who have a vested interest in their success as it benefits the whole community.
February 23, 2022
Mike
Reminds me of an old farmer friend who once said to me “we are paying ourselves too much by half”.
February 23, 2022
Er, you haven’t really thought that through, have you?
Yet again…
February 23, 2022
âRebuilding our fishing fleet should be an urgent priority.â
And the setting up of fish and shellfish processing plants who should receive government funding and help with sales to increase UK sales of UK caught fish and with exports.
February 23, 2022
I like what youâre saying SirJ but Boris sold off our fishing territories to the French till 2030âŠ.no businessman/ fisherman is going to commission a new lease, build or refit till after 2030, and to be honest probably till 2035 until new licences have been issuedâŠâŠ..and no doubt the boats will have to be electric
Tory fisheries plan = barrier after barrier after barriers, more bureaucracy, more net zero, higher costs, higher tax
February 23, 2022
+1
OMG
Did he really do that!!
HonestlyâŠeven now after everythingâŠ.words fail me!
February 23, 2022
And the sailors will still have to be injected, or no job.
February 24, 2022
Into what?
February 23, 2022
âDuring the so called transition period we should be tougher on fishing by banning all the super trawlers of over 100 m in Length to help our fish stocks to rebuild.â
And the banning of pulse fishing if this is still taking place.
Also enacting legislation to force water companies to stop emptying enormous quantities of untreated sewage into our seas.
The presiding judge described the actions of one water company in the south of England, who have been taken to court many times for hundreds of infringements, as âa shocking and wholesale disregard for the environment, human health and fisheries and that he was satisfied that each of the offences was committed deliberately.â
The fines imposed have always been negligible compared to the companyâs profits.
February 23, 2022
Chinese fire drill springs to mind
February 23, 2022
Like the pirates boarding or attacking shipping in other seas for ransom, perhaps we could utilise the hundreds of dinghies abandoned on our shores to become weapons elsewhere in the world.
February 23, 2022
MT.
There is a total weakness in the heads and hearts of our administration and individuals.
It was said some months ago that the Home Office keeps these ribs in secure storage on the basis that they cannot be destroyed, sold or used by us because the owners may and can claim them back for themselves.
Can you believe that our administration is so incompetent. Yes, of course I can, it is endemic. It is what we know happens all the time.
February 23, 2022
Fish and shellfish need to become affordable and available in the UK if an expanded fishing industry is to be anything but an export industry.
I can buy and regularly do, fully mature prawns ( Langostinos, Gambas) in Spain for âŹ18.50 per two kilo box or ÂŁ15.00. If they could be found in UK supermarkets the price would be double this. Even miserable little prawns only fit for potted shrimps cost ÂŁ22.00
per Kilo in the UK.
I experienced the North South divide last week, enjoying Scallops and Turbot at a quayside restaurant next to stacked lobster pots in the far North East of England. The price was about half what I would expect to pay in a certain South Western restaurant of excellence. I don’t know whether they realise it or not, but in terms of quality of life the North East has it in spades.
As far as a large UK merchant fleet is concerned, forget it because to date there is no sign that this government intends to take advantage of Brexit. Tax and regulation has not changed, nor will it with this left of centre Blairite government. After the USA finally got round to joining WW2 a Liberty ship could be built in seven days. We couldn’t do it in seven months. If the fleet was UK owned it would be flagged for convenience and tax purposes. The captain and chief engineer might be Brits but the crew would come from the cheapest source.
Returned south with six properly smoked kippers which will see me out until I return to pescado and marisco heaven next month.
February 23, 2022
It must have been an EU priority to destroy our ship building industry thus preventing us from remaining a great maritime country.
Fancy joining and remaining in THAT club!
February 23, 2022
Well said EVERHOPEFUL , they are enemies not friends as BJ implies.
February 23, 2022
+1
âYou bet!âđ
February 23, 2022
MFD. Exactly. Friends? I don’t think so.
February 23, 2022
” EU priority to destroy our ship building industry”
and much else
February 23, 2022
A similar topic.
Will anyone ask the PM if the Tory government’s policy and practise of cutting our armed forces over the last decade while Russia has been building its own was beneficial to the UK’s security.
February 23, 2022
They went for the soft-power option, ”trade-Aid-World Service” because its cheaper
February 23, 2022
So many opportunities but the Government better get cracking before the tide goes out.
February 23, 2022
The EU was conceived as one country which did everything a normal country did: the Germans would make stuff, the French and Dutch would farm and fish etc. When we came knocking at the door, they didn’t really have role for us but agreed to use our fishing grounds to support their fishermen which was handy when the Spanish joined as well. They also constrained and pensioned off our farmers to prevent them offering unfair competition to the French. Unfortunately, the gormless Tories have not understood that the EU was a scam as far as this country is concerned and they need to return to doing what we had previously done before they had dragged us into this as soon as possible unconstrained by the latest economically destructive job-destroying scams such as Net Zero.
We may be constrained by CFP lite for now but why aren’t actual members of the EU so constrained:
there is a report in the Scottish press of French trawlers loading their catches directly into Spanish lorries
with no checks whilst native fishermen have their catches inspected and weighed to check they are not over quota or landing the ‘wrong’ species.
My recommendation is to study the Government of Iceland Fisheries Management webpage to see how fisheries are managed by professionals without the use of useless DEFRA Arts graduates who would not even understand it.
February 23, 2022
Another area harmed by the ECJ. In the full knowledge no doubt, that our huge payments to the EU were contributing to subsidies to continental fleets, so building them up to plunder UK fishing waters. And let us not forget the fishing ports turned into yacht marinas, paid for by the EU (with our money) and then having to display a sign to say how benevolent they are!
A long road back Sir John and today is not too soon to start. So far, from All Mouth and no Trousers, we have seen sweet Fanny Adams.
February 23, 2022
It is hard to differentiate between what Mr Putin is trying to do in East Ukraine and what the EU is doing in NI!
February 23, 2022
As posted yesterday, Covid has been used as an excuse for complete inertia on all Government thinking and forward seeking polices.
We seem to have come to a dead stop and are drifting, the present Captain is so far of course he seems to have the wrong charts in front of him, no wonder he has lost his way.
I know you are doing your best John, and many thanks for that, but we have far too many in Government, and Parliament, who simply do not have a clue as to the best way to move forwards for the majority in our Country,
Meanwhile shouty very minority groups seem to be appeased with every request.
Disappointing and very, very disheartening.
Where has the vision and drive gone ?
February 23, 2022
It’s too late for many of our old fishing ports. Take Fleetwood that used to have 162 trawlers in the 1960s and now has none plus the docks now have housing built on it.
February 23, 2022
Shame on all our governments
February 23, 2022
“The MOD and other government buyers of vessels should usually buy from UK sources”
Is there any way to ensure that they do?
“The government should work with private sector”
What is your view on state aid for British shipbuilding companies? Or any other sector that needs urgent repairs for that matter?
With regard to ARIA, who exactly retains the ownership of any intellectual property that arises from this or any other taxpayer- funded research and development programs?
Are you satisfied with the reply to your question regarding the protection of national intellectual property from foreign acquisition?
Could state aid be used to enable British companies to develop British intellectual property? So long as they were not able to sell out to highest foreign bidder of course?
Any insights much appreciated…
February 23, 2022
All very worthwhile and welcome suggestions. I speak having been brought up and spent some 45 years in a sleepy Sussex seaside town with an inshore fishing fleet.
Something will have to be done about letting environmentalists having way too much say in what stocks can be fished, in what manner, when and where. Having had some skin in the game, my impression has been that the eco-warriors in marine NGOs (perhaps not politic to name them as they are popular with the cetacean- loving befuddled public) and quangos (Natural England, Environment Agency, etc) donât want to have a fishing industry.
These groups can also very effectively put barriers in the way of onshore development needed to facilitate commercial fishing (e.g harbour and jetty building). I remember the paperwork needed to get approval for a replacement slipway was absolutely staggering and a really substantial cost element in the project.
February 23, 2022
Interesting programme on R4 World Service 2.2.22 at 4.32 am
Gabriel Gatehouse .
8.Epilogue – The Sovereign Individual.
Useful to see all sides of conspiracy matters.
February 23, 2022
All good ideas but none will be implemented without a wholesale change of personnel in the civil service and quangos.
February 23, 2022
Confirmation this morning that Fiscal Drag is in operation once again.
The next financial year 2022 -23 shows no change in the Personal Tax Allowances, confirmed and received today in the post !.
A nibble here, a nibble there, slowly but surely the government gets an ever and more increasing percentage of our money, year on year, through a whole range of increasing taxation.
Where is the incentive to try and better yourself ?
February 23, 2022
PMQs today Boris said that he would investigate Russian RT news channel but wouldnât ban it because theyâre the actions of a communist RussiaâŠâŠbut its okay for him to ban the internal combustion engine and my freedom of choice to decide which vehicle I purchase and drive in a capitalist country ?
February 23, 2022
He won’t do it John. He does nothing to help ordinary Britons, just his nobby friends, contributing ‘advisors’ and globalist quangos . You know who ‘he’ is. He needs to go.
February 23, 2022
All excellent proposals Sir John, but none of this is going to happen while Boris the Traitor remains PM. Face it, you’ve been calling for the banning of the terrible super trawlers for a year now, for instance. What success have you had? And whose fault is that? And what are you going to do about it?
February 23, 2022
Off topic. Boris keeps on about net zero. Surely money should be sent on providing solutions to flooding etc? Erecting solar and turbines will not stop any climate change or flooding. I live close to the Severn but I don’t get flooded. Friends of mine do. The 4th time in 2 years. It’s unacceptable. For God’s sake Boris get a grip and do something useful instead of sitting back and going on about net zero.
February 23, 2022
How many goods are transported by sea ?
Deep Sea and Foreign Going –
Inside shipping,the invisible industry that brings you 90% of everything .
A book of investigative journalism by
Rose George .
A recent present and to copy one of the comments on the cover – First Rate .
February 23, 2022
Allister Heath contributed a thoroughly down-beat assessment of the state of the world in todayâs Daily Telegraph. I wonder if our host read it and, if so, what his reaction was. Unusually for commentators in the Telegraph, the author didnât conclude his article with some specific policy recommendations but instead crumpled into an admission that he had no idea what to do. I canât recall a day when the Telegraphâs commentators havenât known what needs to be done: should we be worried?
February 24, 2022
I think you should be worried. The large majority of countries in Europe are working together to do what they can to restrain Putin, to consolidate the rule of law, to address migration and security pressures and to keep the biggest transnational market the world has ever seen on track. The UK is isolated on the far edge of Europe, and has Jacob Rees-Mogg asking the readers of The Sun to explain to him what to do about Brexit, while its main cheerleaders – Farage, Frost, Gove – have vanished from public life. Yes, I think you should be worried – but also angry that Brexit was sold to you without a shred of a credible plan
February 24, 2022
Twaddle Gary
The EU has been seen already to frozen into inaction.
A few predictable speeches.
A few previous provocative postures which have only helped to inflame the situation.
NATO is the coordinating force linking UK with America and one or two Europen military powers.
The EU is all mouth and no trousers.
February 24, 2022
Thatcher’s Tories were the main force pushing for eastern expansion of the EC/European Union.
February 24, 2022
What an odd opinion NHL
Would you prefer nations released from the dreadful restrictions of the USSR to remain under the yoke of dictatorial communists
Sorry…I already know the answer
Yes you would
February 26, 2022
All very necessary Sir John but Boris is focussed on greenery and pleasing his globalist mates.