UK sends Royal Navy patrol ships to monitor Jersey blockade
The UK will send two Royal Navy patrol vessels to monitor a planned blockade of Jersey's main port amid a fishing rights row with France.
PM Boris Johnson pledged his "unwavering support" for the island, a Crown dependency 14 miles (22km) off France in the English Channel.
It came after the French government threatened to cut off Jersey's electricity over a post-Brexit dispute.
The row emerged over a new licensing system for French fishing vessels.
The system - introduced by the Government of Jersey under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) - requires French fishing boats to provide evidence of previous activity in Jersey's waters.
But French authorities said "new technical measures" for fishing off the Channel Islands had not been communicated to the EU, rendering them "null and void".
Downing Street said Mr Johnson believed "any blockade would be completely unjustified" and that the Navy vessels would be deployed as a "precautionary measure".
The prime minister held talks with the Chief Minister of Jersey John Le Fondré and Minister of External Affairs Ian Gorst.
The threat to cut off Jersey's electricity supply - 95% of which is delivered by underwater cable from France - was made by French Maritime Minister Annick Girardin.
She told the French parliament that new rules governing access to Channel Islands waters were unacceptable - and that France was "ready to use... retaliatory measures".
"I am sorry it has come to this [but] we will do so if we have to," she said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57003069 |
