Macron is playing politics in the Channel

The stand-off between France and Britain has escalated into something altogether more serious. Yesterday, the French maritime minister called for Jersey’s electricity supply to be cut off in response to a dispute over fishing rights. Egged on by French officials, around 80 boats began blockading the port of St Helier this morning in a move that is reminiscent of Ursula von der Leyen’s aborted plans for a hard Irish border to stop the flow of vaccines into the UK. Now there are scenes of British Navy vessels approaching the fishing boats as French ships chart a course for the Channel island.

Some on the Continent are claiming that the stand-off has been manufactured by Boris Johnson to deflect from his various scandals ahead of today’s elections. But these suggestions fail to address the central question: why would France dramatically escalate the situation by threatening to cut electricity to nearly 100,000 Jersey residents over the fishing rights of 41 French boats? And why have French ministers refused to engage with the British agriculture minister to try to solve the dispute?

The answer is that the Élysée is playing politics.