“GUNBOAT diplomacy will not be welcome in Scottish waters,” the Justice Secretary has said after the UK put the Royal Navy on standby in case of a No-Deal Brexit.
Humza Yousaf tweeted this morning that the UK Government had confirmed with him that the navy won’t be deployed unless the chief constable requests so.
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that four navy boats are prepared to patrol British fishing waters if the UK leaves the EU with no deal agreed.
Both the UK and the EU have warned that a No-Deal is looking increasingly likely with just 48 hours left to make an agreement.
Reciprocal access to each other’s waters will end next year but the two sides are at odds over what will replace the current terms, which the UK fishing industry has long argued leaves them short-changed.
READ MORE: 'Irresponsible': Former minister fumes as UK makes Brexit gunboat threat
According to The Times, the UK Government plans to beef-up patrol powers by bringing in legislation to allow the Navy to board foreign vessels and arrest fishermen amid fears of clashes in the English Channel if there is No Deal.
It was also reported that the four Royal Navy boats readied for surveillance are river patrol vessels which are armed with machine guns.
The news has sparked a furious reaction, with the Tory chair of the Commons Defence Committee slamming the move as “irresponsible”.
Yousaf sought to assure the public this morning. He tweeted: “Gunboat diplomacy will not be welcome in Scottish waters (62% of UK EEZ is in Scotland).
“Police Scot and Marine Scot will protect fisheries if necessary, chief constable has primacy.
“UK Government has confirmed with me Royal Navy will not be deployed unless chief constable requests.”
Speaking to Radio 4 this morning former defence minister Tobias Ellwood was furious over the news.
“We’re facing the undignified prospect right now of our overstretched Royal Navy squaring up to a close Nato ally over fishing vessel rights when we are witnessing an increasing presence of Russian drone activity and subsurface activity – our adversaries must really be enjoying this blue on blue,” he said.
READ MORE: Brexit: Former Tory chairman slams 'English nationalist' Boris Johnson
The Tory MP went on: “This isn’t Elizabethan times anymore, this is global Britain – we need to be raising the bar much higher than this.
“Being ready for the worst-case scenario and using this final 48 hours to actually get a deal, they are two very different things.
“I think these headlines are absolutely irresponsible. We need to be focusing on what is already in the bag – 98% of the deal is there, there are three or four outstanding issues.
“Important though they are, let’s park those for the future, let’s get this deal because economically, but most importantly, international reputationally this would be so damaging to Britain – it would be a retrograde step, a failure of statecraft.”
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