Farage: I'll double the size of Britain's fishing zone
Nigel Farage has vowed to double the size of Britain's exclusive fishing zone and warned a Brexit climbdown by Labour risks destroying the industry.
The Reform UK leader told The Telegraph he would extend the waters from which foreign boats are barred without permission from six miles to 12 miles from shore. His pledge comes ahead of local elections in Brexit-backing and coastal areas, where his party is expected to make big gains.
Reform is looking to capitalise on claims, not denied by ministers, that Labour is set to make major concessions on fishing access to secure its EU reset. Mr Farage said that disillusionment with the Tories was also still high in coastal communities for failing to deliver on the promises it made on Brexit.
His party is particularly hopeful of a major breakthrough in Lincolnshire, which is heavily Eurosceptic and home to major fishing ports including Grimsby.
'For the inshore fishing communities, which have for centuries been the mainstay of Britain's coastal communities, the situation is pretty catastrophic,' he said.
'The disappointment and the anger in the industry with the Tories since Brexit almost knows no bounds, and if Labour make it worse, I think it may well be the end of an industry.
'We would reclaim the 12-mile exclusive fishing zone and any boat that fished between six and 12 would do so with our ability to inspect and our ability to set the rules.'
'Catastrophic stock decline'
Coastal nations all have what is known as an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) – the waters around their coasts to which they fully control access. Whilst other nations like Iceland and Norway have EEZs which stretch 200 nautical miles from their shores, Britain's only goes as far as six miles. The limit stems from the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and exists despite the fact that the UK's territorial waters extend for 12 miles out to sea.
Fishing industry bodies have previously urged the Government to take advantage of Brexit and leave the CFP to extend the zone out to 12 miles. Mr Farage said foreign boats were currently able to 'plunder' Britain's coastal seas between six and 12 miles out, leading to 'catastrophic stock decline'.
Labour is reportedly set to agree to granting multi-year access to EU boats to UK waters in return for Brussels agreeing to sign up to a defence pact. Under the current Brexit deal, from next year, European vessels will lose their automatic right to fish in British seas and will have to negotiate access annually. EU states, including France, have been pushing for concessions from Downing Street on greater access in return for more cooperation on security.
Mr Farage asked: 'Who has got the whip hand in these negotiations? If we settle for this new deal, who's actually in charge?
'The madness, of course, is that, managed correctly, the fish in the sea are the greatest renewable source that we possess as an island.'
The Reform leader also warned Labour was planning a 'full EU betrayal' with a series of mini-deals to take Britain much closer to the bloc.
He said that its plans for a security pact involve intelligence sharing with Europe that 'the US would never live with', putting transatlantic cooperation at risk.
Mr Farage also said a visa deal for young people, which Brussels is pushing hard for, would amount to 'the reintroduction of open door immigration'.
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