Environment Secretary Steve Reed has risked the wrath of the fishing industry by claiming there is “no downside” to the government’s Brexit reset. He suggested Brussels had heaped “pressure” on the UK to agree to fishing access rights that would have lasted “in perpetuity”.
But he said the Government “held firm” to limit the time to 12 years despite this being longer than the four years Keir Starmer proposed originally. Giving evidence to MPs on the Environment Committee on Tuesday, Mr Reed said: “I think this is a reasonably good deal for the UK fishing sector. Compared to what some of the speculation was, and indeed some of the pressures on our negotiating team, the EU was interested in more quota, more access to EU territorial waters.
“They were looking for a deal on fishing in perpetuity, and they were trying to achieve that by making what I felt was a spurious link between fishing and an SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) deal.”
Mr Reed added: “There is no downside to this for fishers. There’s a big upside in what they can export.”
The wide-ranging deal will allow farmers to get swifter, easier access to trade on the continent as a result of an agreement on animal and plant product standards.
But the Government has also received swift condemnation for agreeing to grant European fishing trawlers a further 12 years of access to British waters.
Mr Reed argued the UK retained regulatory autonomy with no return to the EU’s common fishing policy as well its position on sand eels.
“This is a good deal standing on its own for fish but if you look at the wider impact on the economy, it’s a huge boost,” he said.
The Environment Secretary also denied claims fisheries were “traded off” for other areas in the negotiations after Environment Committee chairman Alistair Carmichael suggested the Government had invited that compromise by allowing them to be part of these negotiations.
“I do want to really emphasise this point, because you said fishing was ‘traded out’ in this deal,” Mr Reed said.
“It wasn’t. They’ve lost absolutely nothing and they’ve gained things, particularly (market) access that they did not have before,” he said.