France must withdraw unreasonable threats in fishing dispute, says Truss

Macron fishing row? You might say he faces an election, says Truss

- Rachael Burford and Peter Allen

THE Foreign Secretary today accused France of pursuing the fishing row for political purposes as she warned that the country had 48 hours to back down or face tough sanctions.

Liz Truss said the UK would “absolutely” take legal action in the coming days if the French did not rescind threats to tighten customs checks on lorries carrying British goods, ban trawlers from landing their catches in French ports and restrict power supplies to the Channel Islands.

The minister said the UK would use the dispute resolution mechanism under the post-Brexit trade deal to seek “compensatory measures” if needed. “This issue needs to be resolved in the next 48 hours,” she told Sky News. “The deal hasn’t been done”, she added. “The French have made completely unreasonable threats, including to the Channel Islands and to our fishing industry and they need to withdraw those threats or else we will use the mechanisms of our trade agreement with the EU to take action.