Leaving the EU: Fisheries Management

Jim Shannon Excerpts
Tuesday 20th March 2018

(6 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Michael Gove Portrait Michael Gove
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Yes, it is absolutely the case that we want as friction free a trade arrangement as possible with the EU, and indeed with other nations.

Jim Shannon Portrait Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
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In my constituency on Friday, the talk of the day was: let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. In ’74, when we joined the Common Market, Edward Heath sold the fishing sector for a bowl of pottage. In 2018, can the Secretary of State give an absolute guarantee that the fishing sector in Portavogie, in my constituency, and also at Ardglass and Kilkeel, has not been and will not be sold out by a transitional arrangement that leaves the EU in control of fishing policy?

Michael Gove Portrait Michael Gove
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I appreciate the issues the hon. Gentleman raises, and I will do everything possible to address the concerns of fishermen not just on the Ards peninsula but in Kilkeel and elsewhere. I look forward to working with him and colleagues across the political divide in Northern Ireland to provide that reassurance.