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France will reduce electricity supply to Jersey this winter, Paris warns,
unless fishermen granted licences for British waters
8 Oct, 2021 09:02
French fishermen repair their nets at Boulogne-sur-Mer (FILE PHOTO) © REUTERS/Charles Platiau
France’s European affairs minister has claimed Britain is failing with Brexit, but French fishermen must not pay for the UK’s misfortune as he demanded more fishing licences for gallic trawlers and warned of electricity cuts.
Speaking on Friday, outspoken French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said his government would hold firm against Britain and continue to demand more fishing licences.
The European minister said that France may be forced to cut electricity, although not totally, to the Channel Island of Jersey – a self-governing dependency of the United Kingdom – during the winter as part of a “targeted” retaliation in the fishing dispute.
Focusing on the UK, Beaune told BFM TV that “They failed on Brexit. It was a bad choice.” He contended that French fishermen must not pay for Brexit and said that France would withhold turkey at Christmas.
“We will hold firm. The Brits need us to sell their products,” he added.
Prime Minister Jean Castex has already warned that France would review bilateral cooperation with London unless the UK granted French fishermen all the licences they demand in British waters. French fishermen have also threatened to block the gateway port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel rail link unless more licences are granted in the next 17 days.
“As far as French fishermen in northern France are concerned, in the absence of any results, the blocking of the port of Calais and exports to the United Kingdom for the period leading up to Christmas is an option,” said Olivier Lepretre, the president of the fishing committee for the northern Hauts-de-France region, on Wednesday.
Reducing the number of European fishing vessels in British waters was an important component of the Brexit movement. While the UK is looking to see its own fishing industry grow as European vessels slowly lose access under the Brexit agreement, many have called for an overall reduction of trawler activity to allow fishing stocks to recover.
Non-profit organization Oceana has reported that six of the top 10 most economically important fish stocks for the UK are overfished or their stock biomass is at a critical level. Similar reports have raised questions about the effectiveness of the EU’s fisheries policy which governed Britain’s fish-rich waters until Brexit.
French minister says UK ‘hasn’t paid a penny’ towards
stopping migrant crossings
9 Oct, 2021 21:15
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin meets police involved in the fight against illegal immigration at Loon-Plage, France, October 9, 2021 © AFP / Francois Lo Presti
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has accused Britain of withholding millions of pounds in funding to stop migrant boats crossing the English Channel. He said France’s authorities have cracked down on the crossings anyway.
Speaking to reporters in the coastal town of Loon-Plage on Saturday, Darmanin said that “the UK has not paid one penny to us” since Home Secretary Priti Patel offered France £54 million ($73 million) in July to stem the flow of migrants across the English Channel.
The “British government has not paid, for now, what was promised,” Darmanin continued, adding “The English are people of honour, so I am certain that it is an accounting delay.”
Darmanin spoke a day after Sky News filmed multiple boat launches from the beaches of Calais, while French police officers stood by and watched. More than 17,063 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year, according to recently released figures from the Home Office – more than double the 8,460 who crossed last year. In September alone, 60 boats with 4,638 people on board between them successfully made the journey.
However, Darmanin insisted on Saturday that France has clamped down, stopping 65% of crossings over the last three months compared to 50% in the months before. More police have been deployed, he said, and migrant camps in and around Calais have been dismantled.
“It has been more than 20 years since France has overseen the border for our British friends,” Darmanin said. “We have succeeded in largely reducing the pressure from immigration. And what we see in Calais and Dunkirk now is nothing like what we saw five or six years ago,” he added, referring to the hordes of migrants that streamed into northern France in a bid to reach the UK at the height of the 2015 European migrant crisis.
The minister suggested that Britain also has a role to play in stemming the tide, and should “reduce its economic attractiveness for migrants who want to work in the UK.”
Patel told the Tory Party Conference this week that France “is a safe country” and she will “turn back the boats.” However, France refuses to intercept boats or take back those turned around by British authorities, and Border Force vessels operating in the channel currently ferry stranded migrants to safety in the UK.
Loon-Plage, FR
Lebanon in complete darkness after 2 power stations shut down,
blackout will ‘continue for few days’
9 Oct, 2021 11:41 / Updated 9 hours ago
FILE PHOTO. BEIRUT, LEBANON. © Getty Images / Rafael Yaghobzadeh
Due to fuel shortages, two of Lebanon’s biggest power stations were forced to shut down on Saturday, leaving the crisis-hit country in the dark, an official source has said.
The blackout in the country of almost six million is expected to last for several days, the government source told Reuters.
“The Lebanese power network completely stopped working at noon today, and it is unlikely that it will work until next Monday, or for several days,” the official told the agency.
The authorities will attempt to use the military’s oil reserves so the power plants can temporarily resume operations, he said, but warned that it wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
The affected Deir Ammar and Zahrani power stations had been providing 40% of Lebanon’s electricity, according to their operator, Electricité Du Liban.
The facilities ran out of fuel because the government lacked foreign currency to pay foreign energy suppliers. Ships carrying oil and gas had reportedly refused to dock in Lebanon until payments for their deliveries had been made in US dollars.
The Lebanese pound has sunk by 90% since 2019, amid the economic crisis, which has been further deepened by political deadlock. Rival factions haven’t been able to form a government in the 13 months since the deadly blast in the port of Beirut, only finding common ground after the approval of a new cabinet in September.
The power-supply situation had been dire in the country before the complete blackout, with residents able to get electricity for only two hours a day.
Some residents have been relying on private diesel generators to power their homes, but such hardware has been in short supply in the country.
Neighbours don't seem to be rushing to Lebanon's aid. Perhaps because they are afraid the money will disappear into some off-shore accounts.
