Why Boris could benefit from the Jersey fishing dispute

It’s polling day for the local elections but the focus of the government is on Jersey, where a row has broken out over post-Brexit fishing rights. After 80 French boats gathered at St Helier in protest over new licences required for fishing there, the UK hit back by sending two British naval patrol vessels as a precautionary measure. Now the French government has sent naval ships of its own and a war of words is underway between the two sides.

France’s Sea Minister Annick Girardin was the first to up the ante – suggesting the fishing restrictions could lead to France turning Jersey’s electricity off. She used a public statement to say: ‘We have the means, and even though I’m sorry it has come to this, we will do so if we have to.’

The UK government has in turn criticised the ‘unacceptable and disproportionate’ threats while Boris Johnson has thrown ‘his unequivocal support’ behind Jersey.