UK pushes back on French claims of fishing spat
truce
Briefing war erupts after meeting between Johnson and
Macron.
BY ESTHER
WEBBER AND RYM MOMTAZ
October 31,
2021 12:11 pm
ROME — The
British government on Sunday rejected French officials' claims that Boris
Johnson and Emmanuel had agreed to smooth over their spat over fishing rights.
After a
meeting between the British prime minister and the French president on the
sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, an Elysée adviser said “practical
operational measures” could be expected following a week of bitter
recriminations.
The aide
suggested retaliatory measures promised by France could not be fully ruled out
but both sides would seek to “stabilize the situation” by November 2.
But Downing
Street swiftly pushed back, with the prime minister’s spokesman telling
journalists: "It will be for the French to decide whether they want to
step away from the threats they've made in recent days about breaching the
Brexit agreement.”
He added
that Johnson had expressed his “deep concern” directly to Macron and the U.K.
would “welcome” it if France withdrew its talk of reprisals.
U.K.
officials appeared not to recognize the language from Macron’s camp, plunging
the two countries into a briefing war, but allowed that France might be working
on concrete proposals they were unaware of.
France
threatened to block ports to British vessels after dozens of French boats were
denied post-Brexit fishing licences for UK and Jersey waters.
Cristina
Gallardo contributed reporting.
This story
has been updated.
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