‘I wish I’d voted to stay in’: Brixham fishers on the cost of Brexit

 

‘I wish I’d voted to stay in’: Brixham fishers on the cost of Brexit

 

Opinions vary in the south Devon town, but some want the UK to get tough on the French

 

Brixham fish merchant Ian Perkes on Boris Johnson: ‘I’m disappointed. He never mentioned the extra costs.’

 

Jamie Grierson

@JamieGrierson

Mon 1 Nov 2021 16.50 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/01/i-wish-id-voted-to-stay-in-brixham-fishers-on-the-cost-of-brexit

 

Ian Perkes knows better than most the post-Brexit vision that was sold to the fishing industry by the Vote Leave team and the now prime minister, Boris Johnson.

 

Looking out over Brixham harbour from his office, the fish merchant recalls meeting Johnson in August 2019, less than six months before the UK ended its membership of the European Union. “He’s telling me we’re going to have to take on extra staff because we’re going to be so busy,” Perkes says. “With all this free trade, they’re going to want our fish.”

 

Asked how he now views the prime minister, he pauses. “I’m disappointed,” he replies bitterly. “He never mentioned the extra costs.”

 

To Perkes and others in the Brixham fishing industry, the current dispute with France over the number of licences issued to French fishermen to operate in UK waters is the latest in a long line of issues to hit business after Brexit. “If there wasn’t any Brexit, there wouldn’t be any issues,” he said. “We were getting on fine before that.”

 

But Perkes surprises with a key admission – he voted to leave the EU. “I’ve been trolled since I first revealed this – but I wish I had voted to stay in. I never realised we were going to incur all these costs. We were told it was going to be free trade.”

 

Brexit created mountains of paperwork for Perkes and his industry peers. He says sales are down and costs are up, and it’s all down to the departure from the EU. And the latest fight – with the French threatening to blockade their ports, is adding to their woes.

 

“It does impact Brixham,” he said. “They start blockading the port, we’re not going to be able to send fish.”

 

But despite his regrets, he believes the way forward is for the UK to “toughen up” its stance towards France.

 

“They want to bring their wines and cheeses and delicacies into the UK? Let’s make it tougher for them,” he said. “Let’s put tariffs on it. Let’s stop Citroen and Renault bringing cars in. Let’s make it difficult, as difficult as they’re making it for us. Because it can work both ways.”

 

Morris Reid, a skipper on the Margaret Anne, a scallop boat, said a blockade at the French ports could potentially see them lose up to £20,000 every few days. But he believes if Brexit had not happened, the industry would still be facing one dispute or another.

 

“It’s ridiculous. The French, if you look at the charter and how the quota is broken down … have got about 90% of the quota … it just seems they want more and more and more,” he says. “It’s all for the votes. There’s an election in France after Christmas. Macron is just trying to get the votes. It’s ridiculous.

 

“We’ve been looking into it. If they blockade the ports, we’ll put more stuff through Holland.”

 

“Boris Johnson needs to grow a backbone and just say enough’s enough. We should start blocking the harbours, see how they like it. It’s ridiculous. There’s a very tight timeline. If scallops are held up 24 hours, they will spoil.”

 

Lowic Farnham, 31, the skipper of the fishing boat Sanderling, has relocated from Jersey to Brixham because of the wider implications of Brexit. “Since Brexit, we’ve been shafted,” he said.

 

Previously, Jersey fishers could head straight into French ports, but since Brexit they are required to return to Jersey, narrowing the window in which they can fish.

 

He now finds himself living on his small boat, and his wife and children are back in Jersey. He doesn’t expect to see them again until Christmas.

 

“I can see over here how they feel [about EU membership], but in Jersey it should never have affected us,” he said. “We didn’t even get to vote. We’ve been sucked up into it. I wish things had stayed as they were. I need to support my family. If I don’t fish, I don’t get any money. Brexit put so many more restrictions. Too many variables.”

 

Others are more optimistic. Mending nets on the harbourside on a sunny Monday morning, Wesley Lowland says it is true that costs have risen, but so has the price of fish.

 

“Shellfish [trade] is suffering, but I’m not worried. The fish [trade] has been pretty good.”