Britain’s long-suffering fishermen still need to be shown the benefits to quitting the European Union, Tory MP Sir John Redwood has said, seven years after the nation voted for Brexit.
And the long-term Eurosceptic has pinpointed four things Rishi Sunak’s Government can do to demonstrate the decision was the right one.
Many fishermen backed Brexit from the beginning, spearheaded by the Fishing for Leave campaign, which saw it as an integral way to seize back control of the seas around Britain.
However, many were left bitterly disappointed by the end result, believing the deal signed by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson have given too much away to Brussels.
The deal established arrangements for the UK and EU to define percentages for each party for more than 100 shared fish stocks around Great Britain, with negotiations taking place annually.
In total, 25 percent of the EU’s quota will be transferred to Britain by 2026, with EU boats retaining access until then.
After that, in theory, the UK could ban all EU fishing vessels from its waters – but doing so would almost certainly lead to reprisals by Brussels, specifically taxes on British fish exports or a similar ban on British vessels fishing in EU waters.
To make matters worse, massive so-called supertrawlers such as the Dutch-flagged Margiris are still frequent visitors to British waters, hoovering up vast quantities of fish, much to the fury of UK fishermen.
Sir John is a long-term Eurosceptic who as a member of the European Research Group has no doubts the nation is better off outside the bloc.
However, the member for Wokingham believes so far the Government has been too cautious to take full advantage of the nation’s newfound freedoms – and nowhere more so than in terms of the fishing industry.
Referring to the aforementioned huge vessels, he told Express.co.uk: “We need to ban over 100 metre large trawlers taking too much of our fish.
“We also need more grants and loans to expand UK fleet, more progressive switching of quota to UK vessels and more UK landings, which will lead to increases in private sector investment in fish processing and food prep.”
Sir John further spelled out his vision in an op-ed written for the Conservative Home website to coincide with the seventh anniversary of the 2016 referendum.
In it, he wrote: “I am so pleased the UK electors voted to take back control in 2016.
“Everyday since I rejoice that we can now shape our future again. So far government has been too cautious, sticking to failed EU laws and policies.”
However, he continued: “Too many MPs and civil servants have fought to prevent the UK altering things to help us succeed, seeking to keep us tied to the EU whatever the costs.”
Sir John promised to offer a detailed explanation of how Britain could make the most of its new found freedoms in a future article.
He explained: “It is high time we had some Brexit wins.
“The USA need not always build the main global business successes.
“We could narrow the gap in income per head if we tried, now we are free to do so.
“It will take lower and fewer taxes and better laws to do so.”
