It’s up to the French to end row over fishing licences, says Boris Johnson

Britain and France clashed again over a post-Brexit fishing row yesterday, with London calling on Paris to withdraw its threats and rejecting assertions there had been any agreement to try to cool an argument that could ultimately hurt trade.

The two sides painted different pictures of a meeting between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Rome, and there was little sign of the dispute being resolved.

Mr Johnson himself would not be drawn into describing the talks, only repeating that Britain’s position was unchanged on fishing but adding he was “puzzled” to read a letter from Paris asking “for Britain to be punished for leaving the EU”.

“I don’t believe that is compatible either with the spirit or the letter of the Withdrawal Agreement of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement and that’s probably all I’ll say about that,” he told a news conference, referring to the Brexit divorce and trade deals.

Relations with France have become increasingly strained since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016. London’s recently struck security pact with the United States and Australia did little to build trust with Paris.

At the heart of the row is fishing, a topic that dogged Brexit talks for years, not because of its economic importance but because of its political significance for both leaders. If not resolved, it could trigger the beginning of dispute measures in the Brexit trade deal as soon as next week.

After Mr Johnson and Mr Macron met earlier yesterday, a French official said the leaders had agreed to try to de-escalate the row. But Mr Johnson’s spokesman rejected that description and called on Paris to move first if Mr Macron did want to ease strained ties.

“It will be for the French to decide whether they want to step away from the threats they’ve made in recent days about breaching the Brexit agreement. That will be a matter for them,” Mr Johnson’s spokesman told reporters.

Paris has said it could impose targeted measures from tomorrow, including heightening some checks, if there is no resolution to the dispute, which was triggered when France accused Britain of issuing only half the fishing licences it believes it is entitled to.

London rejects the accusation, saying it distributes licences to fish in its waters under the rules provided in the Brexit deal. The row intensified when the French detained a British scallop dredger this week.

Neither leader looks like breaking the deadlock, with both believing they are in the right, according to officials.

Mr Macron has questioned Britain’s credibility. Britain’s Brexit minister, David Frost, has called for an explanation of the letter from French Prime Minister Jean Castex to the EU calling on the bloc to demonstrate there was “more damage to leaving the EU than to remaining there”.

“The rhetoric emanating from the French government and the French prime minister that the UK should be punished for leaving the EU... that sort of rhetoric is not helpful,” Mr Johnson’s spokesman said.

His description of the meeting, which he called “constructive” in some areas, was at odds with that from a French official, who said the goal of the two leaders “was to work towards de-escalation”.

“We are giving ourselves the space for de-escalation in the coming hours.” A French official did not directly comment on the conflicting accounts, only saying “there is joint work to be done, as we said this morning”.

“We’ll see on November. 2. We’re not there yet,” the official said.