France threatens to block Christmas supplies and cut British energy supplies as Brexit fishing row turns nasty
FRANCE threatened to block the UK's Christmas supplies and cut energy supplies as they mocked the nation’s fuel crisis.
Europe minister Clement Beaune vowed to exploit the supply chaos to try to win more access to UK waters as the Brexit fishing row turned nasty.
Militant French fishermen have threatened to blockade Calais and stop the flow of goods to and from Britain in the run-up to Christmas.
The president of the fishing committee for the northern Hauts-de-France region, Olivier Lepretre, said it was an "option" to block the port in Calais and exports into the United Kingdom.
He said: "As far as French fishermen in northern France are concerned, in the absence of any results, the blocking of the port of Calais and exports to the United Kingdom for the period leading up to Christmas is an option."
Deputy PM Dominic Raab said he doesn't think "war is on the cards" with France but insisted No 10 will be "resolute" in defending our fishermen.
He said: "What the French need to adjust to is the new reality as we have left the EU.
"We have got a free trade deal - it includes scope on fishing but they can't expect to have the kind of quotas they had previously, unlimited access."
If the French don't like it they should go and kick the backside of the EU negotiator
Ex Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the posturing was all part of French politics heading into next Spring's election.
He insisted: "There's no reason why we should back down.
"We negotiated something, hard luck. If the French don't like it they should go and kick the backside of the EU negotiator."
President Emmanuel Macron is angry that the UK and Jersey denied licences to most French boats that applied.
French PM Jean Castex accused the PM of ripping up the Brexit deal and warned all cooperation with the UK is now under threat.
He fumed: "Britain does not respect its own signature. This cannot be tolerated."
Mr Beaune said "patience" with the UK is reaching its "clear limits" and accused No 10 of oneupmanship.
He added: "They think they can live all by themselves and, what's more, lash out at Europe.
"And because that's not working they raise the stakes and become aggressive."
Most read in The Sun
Asked how Paris could retaliate he said the UK and Jersey especially "depend" on energy links with the continent.
And he told angry French fishermen they should "look at what's happening in Britain" with the petrol pump crisis.
But he admitted France may have to act alone as its calls for an EU response have gone unheeded.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Ministers dismissed Mr Beaune’s “empty” sabre rattling and said turning off the lights would permanently harm cross-Channel relations.
No10, meanwhile, said it rejected licence applications only of boat owners with no records to show they fished UK waters before Brexit.
