Shellfish Lorry With ‘Brexit Carnage’ Slogan Reportedly Parks Near 10 Downing Street
The lorries turned up at the entrance to Boris Johnson’s office, as shellfish exporters said they were protesting against the post-Brexit red tape standing in the way of their fishing business.
At least ten shellfish lorries, including one with the slogan “Brexit carnage”, have parked on the road just metres from 10 Downing Street in central London, Reuters reported.
@theSNP, @ScotTories please share and give support to Scottish Shellfish Exporters who are protesting in London today at the impact of Brexit on their businesses. If this is not on mainstream news today ask yourself why? #BrexitBritain #BrexitDisaster pic.twitter.com/3KfxMqfsBl
— Paul Pringle (@paulpingu) January 18, 2021
Police have asked the lorry drivers for details. The vehicles appeared downtown, a stone’s throw away from the British prime minister’s official office, after a series of issues had arisen regarding fish exports to the European Union in the wake of Brexit.
Several years ago the media jumped on hoey and farage doing their rotting fish prank on the Thames.
This morning our own Scottish fishing industry is doing laps of Whitehall in protest and I can’t see any kind of coverage anywhere.
What is going on? pic.twitter.com/3Po0amN7G9
— Calum_R91 (@CalumR91) January 18, 2021
In particular, quite a few Scottish fishermen have been unable to export their stocks to Europe after the EU withdrawal stipulated the introduction of catch certificates, health checks, and customs declarations, with the latter drastically delaying their delivery times and thus prompting European buyers to turn them down.
Shellfish exporters said they were protesting in London over post-Brexit red tape, which had been hindering their businesses, they complained.
The ambassadors of the 27 European Union states unanimously approved the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement on 28 December, and it took effect at 2 p.m. UK time the next day, on 29 December.
Michel Barnier, who held talks on behalf of French, Dutch, Danish and other fishing fleets, got Johnson’s government to agree a deal which allowed EU boats to fish in British waters up until at least 2026. Under the accord, British fishermen are due to get an increase in their quota over a five-year period and if, at the end of that period, London decides to expel all EU fishing boats then Brussels is permitted to respond with import taxes on British fish coming into the bloc.
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