{"id":204792,"date":"2025-06-22T09:36:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T09:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/204792\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T09:36:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T09:36:15","slug":"furious-fishermen-savage-keir-starmers-ultimate-brexit-betrayal-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/204792\/","title":{"rendered":"Furious fishermen savage Keir Starmer’s ultimate Brexit betrayal | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Furious fishermen in Cornwall have been left \u201cblindsided\u201d by Sir Keir Starmer<\/a>\u2019s Brexit<\/a>-reset deal, which has delivered the very opposite of what they had campaigned for. Shrinking quotas and a surge in paperwork are driving workers out of the industry, as frustration mounts over the Prime Minister turning fish into a \u201cluxury item\u201d. In May, the UK agreed to a 12-year fishing deal with the European Union<\/a>, allowing continued access for EU vessels to British waters.<\/p>\n

However, industry insiders say it feels like the \u201crug was pulled from underneath\u201d them, and they now fear for the next generation\u2019s future. Sam Chapman, owner of Pengelley\u2019s Fishmongers, was once a successful wholesaler. But due to dwindling supply, he has shifted his focus to retail. Explaining the impact of the deal, the 32-year-old said that the imposed quotas are inflating fish prices, turning what was once a \u201cstaple part of our diet\u201d into a \u201conce-a-fortnight luxury\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fishing deal won’t change anything, and that\u2019s the issue, that nothing has changed,\u201d Mr Chapman said. \u201cThere’s not a lot of quota left here, and it’s all been allocated elsewhere – we were hoping for more quota in the deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cEvery year it seems to get more and more dull. You wonder what you’re leaving behind for the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post-Brexit<\/a> fishing deal initially granted the EU five more years of access to UK waters, which was set to expire next year. But in the recent Brexit<\/a> summit, Sir Keir extended this agreement for an additional 12 years.<\/p>\n

Mr Chapman noted that reduced quotas are driving fish prices higher. He explained: \u201cIt\u2019s getting to a stage now with the public where you can’t really afford to eat. Fish used to be a staple part of a diet, and now it’s a luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained that regular customers who once visited his shop several times a week now only come in for a \u201conce-a-fortnight treat\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, fishermen are still reeling from drastic cuts to pollack quotas and tight restrictions on bass.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s total pollack quota was slashed by a staggering 86% in 2024, from 1,506 tonnes in 2023 to just 203 tonnes.<\/p>\n

Julian Clemence, a pollack fisherman from Looe, has felt the full force of these reductions, earning just \u00a3500 per month during the first quarter of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t catch anything for about three months. We spent January, February, and March basically making around \u00a3500 a month, and that’s it. There was nothing to catch, no bass, no mackerel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to the lack of supply, Mr Clemence was forced to sell one of his fishing businesses. He\u2019s now urging the Government to \u201cpay attention to what they\u2019re being told\u201d by those in the industry.<\/p>\n

Rob Parsonage, leader of Reform UK\u2019s Cornwall group, criticised Labour for \u201cpulling the rug from underneath\u201d the fishermen who had been involved in negotiations ahead of the deal.<\/p>\n

Chris Ranford, CEO of the Cornwall Fish Producers\u2019 Organisation (CFPO), had been in talks with fisheries ministers before the Brexit\u00a0<\/a>reset deal. But according to Mr Parsonage, \u201cdecisions were being made elsewhere\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was blindsided,\u201d the Reform councillor said of Mr Ranford.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe negotiations weren\u2019t actually going on in good faith by the looks of it. And now, undoubtedly, it’s going to hit the fisherman,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had planned and had been doing all this work based on the rules changing, and they\u2019ve had the rug pulled from underneath them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to the summit\u2019s outcome, Mr Ranford issued a scathing letter to the Prime Minister, calling the meetings he attended to \u201cco-design\u201d the deal \u201cpointless\u201d and accusing Sir Keir of making a \u201cmess of our industry\u201d.<\/p>\n

The letter stated: \u201cIn the short space of 10 months, we have seen nothing but taking away [of] any hint of opportunity [for] the UK fishing industry and its surrounding coastal communities, and it\u2019s now a wonder what else can Keir Starmer<\/a> do to make more of a mess of our industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

It continued: \u201cFor all of the hard work that Cornish fishermen have put into shaping up the new post Brexit<\/a> world under the UK Fisheries Act, attending countless meetings to \u2018co-design\u2019 new fisheries management plans, it all feels rather pointless given the outcome of this new trade deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lack of future opportunity the deal holds for our fishing businesses, our coastal communities, our next generation of fishermen, let alone our ability to manage our own seas, will beg the question of any fisherman, why bother getting involved in fishing policy and politics ever again. Especially knowing that the EU will be marking our homework every step of the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow far we are from being a true independent coastal state.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a bid to drum up support, Mr Parsonage now plans to write to all 87 councillors in Cornwall, urging them to sign a petition demanding change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Furious fishermen in Cornwall have been left \u201cblindsided\u201d by Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s Brexit-reset deal, which has delivered the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,5322,65405,748,5023,82522,2000,299,5187,1699,6481,7064,4884,807,386,520,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-204792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-brexit-news","10":"tag-brexit-reset-deal","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-cornwall","13":"tag-cornwall-fishermen","14":"tag-eu","15":"tag-europe","16":"tag-european","17":"tag-european-union","18":"tag-fishing","19":"tag-fishing-quotas","20":"tag-great-britain","21":"tag-keir-starmer","22":"tag-reform-uk","23":"tag-sir-keir-starmer","24":"tag-uk","25":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114726344470405188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}