George Eustice has warned France “two can play at that game” following word they could try blocking British trawlers. He also lambasted Macron’s “unacceptable” behaviour this morning as tensions continue to ramp up between the UK and France over fishing licence disputes. They’ve clearly never recovered after their humiliating defeat in Jersey this May…

On Thursday, France seized a British scallop trawler and have threatened to block more British boats from French ports if the UK refuses to hand out more post-Brexit fishing licences by Tuesday next week. The scallop trawler is seen by the British as a ‘prawn’ in the disputes… 

Last night, Liz Truss dramatically summoned the French ambassador to the Foreign Office for a dressing down by the Europe Minister, and the Government is accusing France of breaking international law. Liz Truss has said she expects the ambassador “to explain the disappointing and disproportionate threats made against the UK”. Flexing her mussels…

UK ministers are also considering retaliatory options should Paris press ahead with their threats on November 2nd; including tit for tat measures like restricting French access to UK waters; organising a meeting with Macron at the G20; convincing EU states to put pressure on France; and offering support to British fisherman and businesses hit by French measures. After a week of boring sewerage stories, Boris has turned his attention from water and loos to Waterloo…

Keep watching for a Guido Forks shrimp recipe courtesy of Nige…

Last night, Channel 4 News aired a report on labour shortages in Scottish fish processing plants. Unsurprisingly, it explained at length how a supposed Brexit horror show has made it more difficult for large firms to rely on cheap foreign labour. Sombre voiceovers and (unattributed) quotes from business chiefs animated over footage of empty boats conveyed the scale of the crisis: “The outlook is grim”, says one anonymous leader; “We have no applications coming in“, says another. They do at least interview one named factory manager on-camera, who laments how “the free movement has been taken away“, and blames his labour shortage “predominantly on Brexit“. There was just one thing missing from the report: any interviews with actual workers…

As Guido is repeatedly pointing out these days, managers and CEOs bemoaning their inability to undercut staff pay by importing cheap foreign labour isn’t likely to push the dial for most Brexit voters. Offer competitive wages, the applications will come in. Poorly-paid leave voters won’t lose much sleep over this report – their votes inevitably leading to better pay is exactly what the Leave campaign argued would happen, and what Leave voters bargained for. This genre of pro-low wage Brexit bashing may massage the egos of FBPE-ers, for many others it means thicker wallets…

“The Prime Minister spoke to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this evening about the state of play in the UK / EU negotiations.

“The Prime Minister underlined that the negotiations were now in a serious situation. Time was very short and it now looked very likely that agreement would not be reached unless the EU position changed substantially.

“He said that we were making every effort to accommodate reasonable EU requests on the level playing field, but even though the gap had narrowed some fundamental areas remained difficult.

“On fisheries he stressed that the UK could not accept a situation where it was the only sovereign country in the world not to be able to control access to its own waters for an extended period and to be faced with fisheries quotas which hugely disadvantaged its own industry. The EU’s position in this area was simply not reasonable and if there was to be an agreement it needed to shift significantly.

“The Prime Minister repeated that little time was left. He said that, if no agreement could be reached, the UK and the EU would part as friends, with the UK trading with the EU on Australian-style terms.

“The leaders agreed to remain in close contact.”