Jersey news – live: Royal Navy warships stood down as French fishing boats leave St Helier after protest
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French fishing vessels are now sailing away from St Helier in Jersey following a protest over post-Brexit fishing rights. Several dozen small craft took part in the demonstration on Thursday morning.
France’s navy dispatched two coastal patrol vessels to monitor the protest, while Britain deployed two Royal Navy ships, HMS Severn and HMS Tamar, to conduct a similar task.
However, despite rising tensions, the UK will “absolutely not” go to war with France over the fishing dispute, Jersey’s foreign minister has said.
Ian Gorst told TalkRadio threats from Paris about cutting off Jersey’s electricity were “totally disproportionate to the technical issues” of implementing Brexit, but that diplomatic solutions were needed.
On Thursday he said he had “positive” talks with the French fishing crews.
European Commission calls for ‘calm'
The European Commission has called for “calm” over the situation in Jersey, while the bloc continues its discussions with the UK.
Spokeswoman Vivian Loonela also said the EU wants further justifications from the UK about the new conditions that limit the bloc’s fishing activity.
She added: “Those conditions have to be non-discriminatory between the UK and the EU.
“Also, but it is an important point, these conditions have to be notified in advance to the other party, so that there is sufficient time to assess and to react to the proposed measures.”
PM reiterates ‘unequivocal support’ for Jersey
Boris Johnson has spoken of his “unequivocal support” for Jersey with the island’s leaders on Thursday.
He spoke to chief minister John Le Fondre, deputy chief minister Lyndon Farnham and foreign minister Ian Gorst.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister reiterated his unequivocal support for Jersey and confirmed that the two Royal Navy offshore patrol vessels would remain in place to monitor the situation as a precautionary measure.”
“They agreed to stay in touch as the situation develops.”
Voices: What can our ships actually do?
The Jersey fishing row shows that gunboat diplomacy is not dead, writes Stuart Crawford.
The former army officer looks at the decision to send navy vessels to the island:
Opinion: The Jersey incident shows gunboat diplomacy isn’t dead
It’s highly unlikely that the Royal Naval vessels sent to the Channel Islands will open fire, but their presence is nevertheless important
French fishing fleet leaves Jersey
It appears the French fishing fleet is heading back in the direction of France.
Here’s the AFP reporter Andrew Beatty:
Jersey minister has ‘positive’ talks with French fishing crews
Jersey's external relations minister Ian Gorst says he believes talks between officials from the Channel Island and French fishermen who were protesting at the port of St Helier have been "positive".
"It really is important that what has escalated over the course of the last three days, that we move away from that escalation and disproportionate threats, and start to deal with those detailed technical issues," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.
Marinetraffic.com shows French fishing fleet departing Jersey
The dozens of French fishing boats which joined this morning’s protest outside St Helier on Jersey are now moving away, tracking data shows.
Marinetraffic.com’s map showed the craft returning to harbour elsewhere, as two Royal Navy warships remained nearby.
At some point during the day, a French vessel appeared to collide with a second boat flying Jersey’s flag. The ambiguous incident was caught on video.
Explained: Why has UK sent Royal Navy ships to patrol Jersey amid post-Brexit fishing row with France?
The British government sent two Royal Navy vessels to the waters off Jersey on Wednesday, amid a post-Brexit fishing dispute between the Channel Island and France.
The move came after reports that the French fishing fleet would stage a blockade of St Helier’s port in protest about fishing licences, write Jon Stone and Rory Sullivan.
HMS Severn and HMS Tamar took up station off the town to “monitor the situation”, with dozens of French fishing boats gathering nearby on Thursday morning.
Why has the UK sent Royal Navy ships to patrol Jersey?
‘Our fishermen need to carry on working,’ says French MEP
Opinion: The Jersey fishing row shows gunboat diplomacy isn’t dead – but what can our ships actually do?
Those of us who might have thought the days of gunboat diplomacy were long gone have had to think again, writes Stuart Crawford.
Two Royal Navy vessels, HMS Severn and HMS Tamar, are currently patrolling the waters around Jersey as some 60 French and Jersey registered fishing boats mount a protest over post-Brexit fishing rights. The French have also reportedly threatened to cut off the electricity supply to the island.
In the days of empire it was hardly unusual for one of Her Majesty’s ships to be sent off to some far flung part of the globe to cow or quell some restless natives.
Prime historical examples include the Don Pacifico incident of 1850, when the Royal Navy blockaded the Greek port of Piraeus in retaliation for the assault of a British subject in Athens, and the Americans sailing eight ships, one-third of the entire US Navy at the time, to “open” trade between Japan and the United States in 1853.
Opinion: The Jersey incident shows gunboat diplomacy isn’t dead
It’s highly unlikely that the Royal Naval vessels sent to the Channel Islands will open fire, but their presence is nevertheless important
Bemusement in France as media yawns at Jersey ‘war’
The British press has worked itself into a frenzy over the Jersey fishing row, with the words “war” and even “Nazis” appearing in headlines. But in France the media has given the issue an enormous Gallic shrug.
Nearly all London national newspapers had the latest Franco-British skirmish as their front-page top story, while not a single French national daily deemed it of sufficient interest for a cover splash, writes Rory Mulholland.
France Info radio, the rolling news station where much of the nation gets updated on what is happening at home and abroad, did not even bother to mention the spat over post-Brexit fishing rights in a lunchtime bulletin on Thursday.
Bemusement in France as media yawn at Jersey ‘war’
Crisis, what crisis? Events in Jersey may have made massive - and lurid - headlines in the UK, but in France the media has given it one big Gallic shrug
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