Origins of the Present ‘Crisis’ Boris Johnson, Churchill & Fish
Keir Starmer as part of a modest realignment with the EU (which is essentially about equalising the level of exploitation, take your pick on which word you emphasise) has extended a deal that Johnson did in 2020. That was obviously a bad deal and reports suggest this is a little better but I’m no expert here (I do like eating fish as does pescatarian Starmer)
As Sam Freedman posted the UK fishing industry now employs fewer people than University College London (by some distance) which given the UK is a maritime nation is an interesting reflection on where the priorities of capital in the UK have been for a while.
There has of course been bluster from Farage but he cant avoid the reality that when he was an MEP and could have defended UK fishing he attended precisely one of the forty-two meetings he could have
For those who make their living from fishing Boris Johnson’s Brexit ‘negotiations’ in 2020 on fishing rights with the EU were a serious matter.
Johnson though was and is not someone noted for taking things seriously
He previously waved a kipper in the air as part of a stunt in a political speech
When he had dinner witn EU President Ursula von der Leyen as part of the 2020 negotiations he reportedly dined on scallops followed by turbot. Both are fished in UK waters with scallops being a previous source of dispute.
In October 1939 Winston Churchill’s Parliamentary Private Secretary Sir Geoffrey Shakespeare received the following memo from Churchill.
One morning I found on my desk a pink tab with a memo to this effect: “I am concerned about the shortage of fish. Parliamentary Secretary will immediately take up the matter with the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff and the head of the Mine Sweeping Division to see if any trawlers can be released for fishing. We must have a policy of “utmost fish.” Parliamentary Secretary will report to me by midnight with his proposals. WSC.
Knowing Johnson and his Churchill obsession this explains a lot…
You just can’t face reality can you. As Flett points out the fishing industry in whole UK employs fewer people than London university, & your favourite piss & wind merchant Farage never raised subject when an ME P. Lovely hot sunny day in Edinburgh. I’m knackered though, been walking all morning, round Old Town. Sitting above Princes St gardens now while Fern has gone to take more photos, Scott Monument, Waverley hotel with its always 5 minutes fast clock etc Lorna & I had our wedding reception lunch there 1964.Old Town absolutely thronging with tourists, very different to how I remember it when we used to come up to Burntisland with the kids 60s & 70s. I’d forgotten what a beautiful & quite majestic city Edinburgh is , particularly when the sun shines
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