Follow RT on London has announced it would send two patrol vessels to the island of Jersey in the English Channel as a “precautionary” measure as French fishermen threaten to block its port amid a row over fishing rights.
The standoff between Jersey and Paris over providing French vessels with fishing rights in the island’s waters took a new turn this week as French fishermen threatened to block Saint Helier – the isle’s main harbor.
In response, Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday ordered two patrol warships into the area, following talks with the Jersey officials.
“The Prime Minister underlined his unwavering support for Jersey. He said that any blockade would be completely unjustified. As a precautionary measure the UK will be sending two Offshore Patrol Vessels to monitor the situation,” Downing Street said on Wednesday.
May 10, 2021
From his restaurant at an old Nazi military bunker on Jersey’s rocky northwest coast, former fisherman Sean Faulkner makes a prediction: “If they don’t get their own way, they’ll be back.”
Like his fellow islanders, Faulkner, 66, had just watched French fishing vessels stage a protest over changes in access to waters following the U.K.’s departure from the European Union. The standoff prompted Britain and France to deploy warships in the strip of sea that separates them. Billed as a game of chicken by U.K. tabloids, the same press rejoiced when the French went home.
From the Normandy coast, the Jersey whelk wars look like sabotage
Locals in the port of Granville think the row between France and the UK over fishing makes no sense
A French fisherman unloads shellfish in Granville harbour last week. Photograph: Sameer Al-Doumy/The Observer
A French fisherman unloads shellfish in Granville harbour last week. Photograph: Sameer Al-Doumy/The Observer
Sun 9 May 2021 04.15 EDT
If you look out to sea from the Christian Dior museum on the cliffs above Granville, you see the grey outline of what appears to be another part of the Norman coast.
It is. But it isn’t.
HMS Severn joins sister ship Tamar at Portsmouth after gunboats saw off angry French skippers amid row over post-Brexit fishing rules
HMS Severn sailed back to Portsmouth this morning after seeing off French fishermen off the coast of Jersey
The Royal Navy River-class offshore patrol vessel was scrambled amid a standoff with French skippers
About 70 French trawlers staged a protest at Jersey s capital St Helier, before beating a retreat
The quarrel began after some French boats were refused licences to fish in Jersey s waters post-Brexit