The Labour Prime Minister has been urged not to sell out fishermen amid fears of a “Starmer surrender summit” in the wake of his meeting with EU officials tomorrow [Monday 19 May].
Keir Starmer will host a UK-EU Summit in London, with fishing concessions considered as a huge prize for the EU due to its disproportionate dependence on UK waters.
Currently, EU boats are only allowed to catch 75% of what they could pre-Brexit in British waters – an agreement set to expire next year.
But it’s anticipated Starmer could bow down to Brussels’ demands by backing a multi-year deal that scraps annual talks and freezes quotas – allowing EU boats to flood British waters once again.
It comes as Peterhead Port Authority (PPA) recorded its highest ever annual fish landings total last year.
More than £257 million-worth of catches were traded across the quaysides by the end of November, surpassing the £232m total for the whole of 2023.
Buckie-based Scottish Conservative fishing spokesman Tim Eagle said: “The upcoming UK-EU summit must not be the Starmer surrender summit.
“Keir Starmer has the chance to protect the industry rather than selling out fishermen by using them as a bargaining chip to get a deal over the line.
“Since leaving the EU and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), not only have we seen catches and landings increase but Scotland has had a far stronger voice in annual quota negotiations since the UK became an independent coastal state.
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“The SNP would gladly sacrifice that by re-joining the CFP and the sector is rightly concerned that Labour will follow them by surrendering access to UK waters on Monday.
“Rather than sacrificing the future of Scotland’s fishermen, Keir Starmer must safeguard our waters by ensuring the industry has a voice at the summit.”
