More than 300 North East fishermen and residents have launched a broadside at Prime Minister Keir Starmer over negotiations with the EU.
Labour agreed a 12-year deal with Brussels which allows EU registered boats to fill their quota in UK waters without the need for annual negotiations.
It was “a major bargaining chip that’s been tossed aside” to secure a student exchange scheme and allow British travellers to use passport e-gates on the continent.
But it has “torn up entirely” the post-Brexit Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) for annual access negotiations from 2026.
The call for help in response is thought to be the most signatures ever collected among community leaders around Banffshire and the Buchan coast.
Broch councillor James Adams delivered the letter on behalf of all signatories, also cosigned by fellow Tories Peter Chapman, Matthew James, Stewart Adams, Hannah Powell, Iain Sutherland and Tim Eagle, MSP for the Highlands and Islands.
The signatories state: ‘You must reconsider signing this deal.
“And if you are determined to push ahead with this deal, how will you help us deal with what comes next?
“Will you provide extra support through the Levelling Up fund, and other levers of power? The future of these communities relies on your next step.”
James Adams, the Scottish Conservative candidate for Banffshire & Buchan Coast at next year’s Scottish Parliament election, says fishing communities “always seem to lose” when their rights are on the table.
He said last night:
“North East fishing communities never get to see the table in EU negotiations — and we always seem to lose.
“This was a major bargaining chip that’s been tossed aside like it has no value.
“Brussels must think they’ve won the Euro Millions and found a four-leaf clover.
“But the bleak truth is that Labour have sold us out without so much as an apology. The TCA has been torn up entirely.
“They are looking at our community and thinking ‘we’ve no chance there’.
“But I would like Sir Keir to come here and defend his government’s actions to the people they’re selling down the river, so cheaply.”
