Boris Johnson 'caved in' on fishing to secure Brexit deal

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the Opportunis IV fishing trawler, during a visit to Peterhead fish market near Aberdeen - Credit: PA

Boris Johnson has “caved in” on fishing to secure a Brexit deal, a European official has claimed.

Joe Barnes, the Daily Express‘ Brussels correspondent, claims that the prime minister is “willing to accept” that the EU hands back 25% of the value of fish it catches in British waters over a five-and-a-half-year transition period.

It is in line with the figure that the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier had said he was willing to accept.

Earlier in the week British demand for a 60% reduction in the catch by value in British waters had been reduced to 35% in a “final offer” from Number 10.

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Barnes reports that it is “seen as a significant concession by the EU side and likely to anger Brexiteers in Britain.”

RTE’s Tony Connelly supported the claims, claiming that there was a last-minute “instrumental” development on fish.

“The British have made huge concessions in the negotiations in the past 48 hours,” a French official told Reuters.

But British officials are likely to claim victory over Brussels by stating that it will have meant that they have reclaimed control of its fishing waters ten years after the EU referendum.

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage tweeted: “It sounds like the British team have dropped the ball before the line. No wonder they want a Christmas Eve announcement to hide the fisheries sell-out.”