French anger over waiting for British fish

France is threatening Britain with trade squabbles within days of the dispute over fishing permits after Brexit.

French government spokesman Gabriel Attal is warning Britons of “systematic customs and health checks on products brought to France and a halt to the disembarkation of seafood,” the AFP news agency reports.

The measures could come into force as early as 2 November unless the UK gives French fishermen more licences to fish in UK waters.

The dispute has been going on ever since the British exit from the EU and has already led to tension at sea, not least around British Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel.

France’s EU minister Clément Beaune warns that further escalation could be in the offing.

“This is a first group of measures. Either this leads to a dialogue about the licenses and if so, that’s fine. Or we take other measures, including in terms of, for example, the supply of electricity,” Beaune said before the French Senate.

Jersey and Guernsey are located just off the French coast and get their electricity mainly from France.