A Brexiteer has warned that Emmanuel Macron is “plotting” against Britain in order to exact “punishment” for Brexit and undermine the credibility of a task force tasked with preventing future chaos at Dover.
Jayne Adye, director of Get Britain Out, believes that both Tory candidates must offer specific solutions for the fishing industry and the Northern Ireland Protocol, which will be implemented when either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak succeeds Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
Speaking after Salmon Scotland, the voice of Britain’s largest food export, Adye urged the UK Government to take immediate action to support the industry in the aftermath of the decent delays.
“If these problems persist, the French will seek more reliable suppliers, most likely from Norway,” she said. However, there are numerous causes for the problems.”
Fresh salmon from Scotland usually arrives in France the next morning, but there have been delays of up to 48 hours in recent weeks due to queues on the UK side of the Channel, they warned.
“It has been reported that French President Macron has been plotting new ways to ‘punish the UK for Brexit,’ including engineering chaos at Dover by ensuring there are not enough French operatives manning the checkpoints – with only half the required number on duty at Dover recently – despite the Covid ban into France being lifted on August 1.”
“All of these problems are Brexit-related, with concerns about the massive amount of paperwork, veterinary checks, and so on that now need to be carried out,” Ms Adye added.
Ayde reiterated that during the current Conservative and Unionist Party Leadership election, neither of the two final contenders for this role and as Prime Minister – following Boris Johnson’s forced resignation – have mentioned the fishing industry, or any other specific industries that desperately need help.
“Perhaps the two PM Leadership candidates – former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and current Foreign Secretary Liz Truss – should start talking a little less about tax (though tax cuts would be welcome) and much more about the specifics of what they actually plan to put in place to help people and businesses in the UK – as well as how they plan to grow the economy.”