n were promised they would have more control over their waters. But Ben Catchpole, who runs a fishing business in Grimsby, says it hasn’t turned out that way for him.
“There is a lot of talk about having taken back control of the waters, but in reality, we haven’t got more fish to catch,” he says.
He is worried the government might not get a fair deal for UK fishing at the upcoming summit, where France and other maritime nations will be pushing for greater access.
“We can’t go back to the bad old days when we had to dump fish in the sea,” says Catchpole.
But for him and others in the fishing industry, the government just needs to “tough it out”.
Simon Dawson / Bloomberg
The UK and France have often been at loggerheads over fishing rights
Others in the fishing industry say the EU has held its own benefits since Brexit. Continuing to cooperate with the EU on fish stocks could sustain the multi-billion euro seafood market that UK companies rely on, according to Helen Duggan, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations.
“The development of a stable fisheries management system is vitally important to the UK industry,” she adds. “Continuing to work with our EU neighbours in the pursuit of this goal will be essential to achieving it.”
“A lot of the best data on fish stocks comes from European collaboration,” argues Calum Duncan from Marine Conservation Society.
A clear win for British pensions?
A clear potential win of a deal is securing better rights for millions of British pensioners. They are among around 900,000 UK citizens living in the EU – most in Spain.
“Pensions have been a real concern,” says Robert Taylor, an 87-year-old military veteran who lives in Spain’s Costa del Sol and manages his UK pension. He says he has struggled since Brexit to get NHS healthcare. “There have been so many barriers. We’ve worked all our lives, paid all our taxes, voted in every poll. We served in wars.”
Keen to help British pensioners is Richard Corbett, a Labour MEP. He tells me he’s using his contacts in Brussels to try to secure an interim deal that would provide pensioners with immediate relief from some bureaucratic hurdles.
“Greater certainty for pensioners would be a great comfort and a significant step towards the UK and EU showing it can work together for the benefit of its peoples,” he says.
Simon Dawson / Bloomberg
Pensioners hope a deal will bring greater certainty over their healthcare
But pensions remain a concern for many. Last October, the government folded a little from pressure and agreed to pay for several more months of healthcare for pensioners who moved here from the EU before 2022. Any movement this month will be seen as a further concession or relief.
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