From City AM:
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has revealed its concern at the UK’s ability to patrol fishing waters in a no-deal Brexit.
In a leaked government memo, Defra said there is “a lot of uncertainty” around what will happen, and that there are just 12 ships “to monitor a space three times the surface area of the UK”.
If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to do so on 31 October if a deal cannot be agreed, then the UK will leave the common fisheries policy, which dictates how much fish countries can catch and where.
An internal email, seen by the BBC, said: “While our public position on this wider issue is already clear and widely communicated, in that post-Brexit we will be an independent coastal state with control of our waters, both policy and MoD have indicated we are not on an overly strong footing to get ahead of the potential claims that could arise from this story.
“At this stage, there is a lot of uncertainty about the sufficiency of enforcement in a no-deal because we have 12 vessels that need to monitor a space three times the size of the surface area of the UK.”...MORE
