Saturday, July 13, 2019
Brexit party declares war on foreign fishermen
A Brexit party MEP took his party's hatred of foreigners to a new low this week, after he called for foreign fishing vessels to be “given the same treatment as the Belgrano”, the Argentinian cruiser sunk by the Royal Navy with the loss of hundreds of lives.
As the Guardian reports, Robert Rowland, a hedge fund manager, made the remarks in a tweet about “the restoration of sovereignty over our waters”, in celebration of a fellow MEP, June Mummery, joining the European parliament’s fisheries committee.
He wrote: “We are behind all our fisherman [sic] and the restoration of sovereignty over our waters. 200 miles of exclusion zone with any foreign fishing vessel given the same treatment as the Belgrano! Well done June. We are 110% behind you and will ensure you give ‘em hell on committee.”
As Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies, who was elected this week to chair the fisheries committee, said, the remarks are effectively “calling for people to be killed, that’s calling for fishermen from another nation to die in our waters. That’s evil. That makes me sick to the stomach.
“Is that the sort of country these people want? Where we actually kill fishermen, who have been doing nothing more than what they have been doing for hundreds of years.”
The paper reports that Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said the “intemperate language” was not helpful.
After Brexit, he said, “we would expect there would be non-UK fishing vessels operating in UK waters, but under conditions determined by the UK, just like any other independent coastal state. The model would be Norway. The EU has a relationship with Norway for 40 years where stocks are jointly managed. The quota shares, which are very important, are agreed annually. It’s a bit like a marriage, there are ups and downs, but every year there is an agreement.”
Not only does the attitude of these Brexit MEPs do no favours to the UK fishing industry, but it underlines the hatred of all things non-British, which appears to lie at the centre of Brexit Party philosophy. This gung-ho attitude does the UK no favours at all.
As the Guardian reports, Robert Rowland, a hedge fund manager, made the remarks in a tweet about “the restoration of sovereignty over our waters”, in celebration of a fellow MEP, June Mummery, joining the European parliament’s fisheries committee.
He wrote: “We are behind all our fisherman [sic] and the restoration of sovereignty over our waters. 200 miles of exclusion zone with any foreign fishing vessel given the same treatment as the Belgrano! Well done June. We are 110% behind you and will ensure you give ‘em hell on committee.”
As Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies, who was elected this week to chair the fisheries committee, said, the remarks are effectively “calling for people to be killed, that’s calling for fishermen from another nation to die in our waters. That’s evil. That makes me sick to the stomach.
“Is that the sort of country these people want? Where we actually kill fishermen, who have been doing nothing more than what they have been doing for hundreds of years.”
The paper reports that Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said the “intemperate language” was not helpful.
After Brexit, he said, “we would expect there would be non-UK fishing vessels operating in UK waters, but under conditions determined by the UK, just like any other independent coastal state. The model would be Norway. The EU has a relationship with Norway for 40 years where stocks are jointly managed. The quota shares, which are very important, are agreed annually. It’s a bit like a marriage, there are ups and downs, but every year there is an agreement.”
Not only does the attitude of these Brexit MEPs do no favours to the UK fishing industry, but it underlines the hatred of all things non-British, which appears to lie at the centre of Brexit Party philosophy. This gung-ho attitude does the UK no favours at all.
