Ben Habib, former deputy leader for Reform UK, says the UK should be “extremely concerned” about a supposed £100bn a year it is losing to Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron says that a UK-France defence partnership for Ukraine might not happen unless France get increased access to British fishing waters. The statement has paused negotiations for a new €150 billion joint defence fund as France refuse to engage in the pact until Britain meet their demands on fishing rights. It happened as part of a meeting at Nato headquarters of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG). The EU’s top foreign officials mocked the French announcement, with Estonia’s former prime minister Kaja Kallas criticising Macron’s government to the BBC today revealing she was “surprised how important fish are, considering the security situation”.Habib spoke out against the UK government’s handling of the situation on the Martin Daubney show, claiming Britain’s Brexit deal is to blame for the latest fishing row. He said that whilst Britain’s share of fishing waters did initially increase, the imminent future is less certain. “There is no mechanism in that deal for us to take control of our own waters from June 2026 onwards.”, he said.Habib warns that other hard-negotiated parts of the Brexit deal could be compromised to preserve Britain’s waters from next year. He told GB News: “The French and the EU have a continued right to go on fishing our waters. If we wish to change it in our favour, they can take compensatory measures against us and they can cancel other parts of the trade and cooperation agreement.” Whilst the Brexit deal was secured under the previous Conservative government, he is worried the current one does not have what it takes to take on the EU when it needs to.He told Martin Daubney: “Our government hasn’t got the guts to stand up to Europe.”
Business leader David Gonski to head governments anti-Semitism education taskforce
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