'We will not roll over:' UK stands firm over French threats

A troubling post-Brexit fishing spat between Britain and France is showing few signs of abating as a threatened French blockade of British boats and trucks looms

LONDON -- A troubling post-Brexit fishing spat between Britain and France showed few signs of abating Monday, a day before a threatened French blockade of British boats and trucks.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned France that the U.K. will “not roll over” in the face of what she termed “unreasonable” threats from Paris. French fishing crews stood their ground, demanding a political solution to a local dispute that has become the latest battleground between Britain and the European Union.

Both sides have accused each other of contravening the post-Brexit trade deal that the U.K. signed with the European Union, which came into force this year.

France has threatened to bar British boats from some of its ports and tighten checks on boats and trucks carrying British goods if more French vessels aren’t licensed to fish in U.K. waters by Tuesday. Paris has also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands — British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France and are heavily dependent on French electricity.