THE Tory leader of the House of Commons has claimed that Brexit has made fish "British fish and they’re better and happier fish for it".

Jacob Rees-Mogg made the claim in response to genuine concerns raised by the SNP's Tommy Sheppard about the impact exiting the EU has had on the Scottish fishing industry.

Sheppard said exiting the European bloc had been a "disaster”, and asked for a debate on compensation for the Scottish fishing industry.

He said: “Boats confined to harbour, lorry loads of seafood destroyed, the industry losing £1 million a day as firms go bust – all as a result of Brexit red tape imposed by this Government.

“Yet when asked about this yesterday, the Prime Minister refused to answer.”

Rees-Mogg claimed in response that the "key thing is we’ve got our fish back", adding: “They’re now British fish and they’re better and happier fish for it.”

READ MORE: 'Fundamental error': Scottish Fishermen's Federation rips apart Tory Brexit deal

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle intervened and noted: “Obviously there’s no overwhelming evidence for that.”

Rees-Mogg also claimed the Government was dealing with the issue "as quickly as possible".

On Twitter, SNP MP Drew Hendry said the comments showed the Tories "are just getting worse and worse". "This is beyond negligence and complacency," he added.

Rees-Mogg's comments came as even Scottish Tories join the calls for compensation for Scottish fisherman for the effects of Brexit. 

Douglas Ross argued that financial compensation is “clearly needed by our fishermen right across the country”, signalling an announcement from the London Tories may be on the cards. 

Yesterday Boris Johnson told MPs that businesses "will be compensated".

However, today the UK Government has said that the issues facing Scottish fishermen "are only teething problems" and avoided questions around accessing this compensation.

Food and environment minister George Eustice said: “When people get used to using the paperwork goods will flow.”