Is Macron sabre rattling?

Not at all- it all started with the British refusin to give licences for French boats near New Jersey.

Solution is quite easy, the British government can end this impasse very simply by issuing the 50 or so licences to small French fishing boats that are being held up by the Jersey authorities over a technicality.

It would also help if Lord Frost would stop stir the pot even further. The French Prime Minister didn't say that the UK had to be shown that it “causes more damage to leave the EU than to stay in”. He is actually saying that European public opinion needed to see that signed commitments have to be respected and are no longer negotiable. And therefore that leaving the EU caused more damage than remaining. Simple and clear really.

NEW Jersey?

I think this is one of those issues manipulated by politicians and certain sections of the press to
a) make our government appear reasonable and strong in the face of a pretend enemy, and
b) to distract the credulous masses with something they can get riled up about rather than have them focus on more important realities.

Our government is there not to make a song and dance and threats all over the papers but to diplomatically, quietly and without risk resolve this situation with a country who have been our ally for 200 years.

New Jersey
And this from a poster who’s always giving us in the uk geography lessons as to where our ports are situated.

Well Castex writes a letter clearly stating that leaving the union must damage the UK and Brussels orders the UK not to be confrontational ,this is astounding for its sheer audacity and even the most hard-core remainer can't possibly think this is acceptable,can they?

Marcos Sefcovic, a European Commission vice-president seems worried that Boris finally growing a pair about something. I do hope so, but it will not make up for the green suicide mission he is on.

What la land do these over promoted twerps Inhabit? Macron is trying to get re elected by acting like Rambo, Doris is trying to get a decent legacy by pretending to be Churchill! "Issue the sodding licences , stop bragging, try for once in miserable lives to act like you care about anything other than yourselves"- would be the start of my severe telling off to all concerned.! Were still in the deadly grip of covid although everyone is pretending is all over now, it isn't. Bickering about fish? Really?!?! Can we not have it at EU prices for a change? £6 for a few paltry scraps of fish in supermarkets, pathetic behaviour.

The whole thing is utter b……….s.

This would not be happening except for Brexit

UM - Castex said no such thing! Frost translated the letter incorrectly but when it was pointed out to him continued with the wrong translation! Native French speakers were very quick to point out the discrepancies in the translation. The British journalists carried on with the wrong translation but I see that Katya Adler did correct this mistake in her report - the only journalist to do so.

MerylStreep @ 10.35

Scones

I think this is one of those issues manipulated by politicians and certain sections of the press to
a) make our government appear reasonable and strong in the face of a pretend enemy, and
b) to distract the credulous masses with something they can get riled up about rather than have them focus on more important realities.

Our government is there not to make a song and dance and threats all over the papers but to diplomatically, quietly and without risk resolve this situation with a country who have been our ally for 200 years.

Ally? Who dat?! Thy hate us, always have. De Gaulle blocked our entry to eec twice and campaigned vociferously to keep us out of europe.why? ......they hate us ! We have such a history of kicking their backsides, everywhere from Quebec to Malta and beyond.....and they never forgot or forgave us . The special relationship rubbish is simply because it's the first stage in any journey to rest of world, we usually have to step across France to get anywhere east, culturally and psychologically we're much more like the Germans, so the sooner we all come to terms and learn to accept it and stop trying to be 'best buddies' the better

Well WWmk2 and all the Remainers on here - a question.

Why do you complain about the bad Brexit deal when you spent years cheering on the sabotage attempts in Parliament that undermined our negotiating position and led to the deal that you are now complaining about?

Urmstongran Castex's letter does not say anything of the sort. That incorrect translation has presumably been deliberately circulated to inflame the gullible.
This is the sense in context of what he actually said: "It's necessary to show European public opinion that agreements have to be respected and are non negotiable, and that there are more downsides to leaving the union than staying in".
Some of the more respectable journalists have now corrected their reports removing the inflammatory and incorrect language of the original version that talked about "causing damage".

Welshwife this latest ridiculous argument is like me writing you a letter saying "I'm going to blow your brains out with a double barrelled shotgun" and arguing it's not a murder threat because it doesn't contain the word "murder".

Urmstongran
a) because it is a bad Brexit deal - why wouldn’t we criticise it ? It was nowhere near what was promised. They’ve sold fishing and farming down the sewage filled river which was the opposite of what they said Brexit would deliver.
b) because it highlighted that we weren’t governed by a load of nodding dogs and ar*e lickers who were prepared to roll over for the likes of Dom Cummings who had orchestrated the whole thing. As above - the deals proposed were nowhere near what was promised, would be bad for fishing, farming, businesses etc despite all the promises/ lies- why wouldn’t anyone challenge something which would actually be to the detriment of the population?

Boris was forced by the Treason May and then the Benn Act etc to include the NIP in getting Brexit done.

It was bad, and the EU have ignored normal checks. They have cheated by imposing vastly excessive checks to form a blockade of NI. It is damaging. So Art 16 can be applied.

Boris and Frost have the EU and Macron in checkmate. They have given them enough rope to hang themselves.

Macron has made lots of noise, and demanded EU backing which is not arriving. The deal is Uk-EU.

The French must take their orders from the EU.

Urmstongran

Well WWmk2 and all the Remainers on here - a question.

Why do you complain about the bad Brexit deal when you spent years cheering on the sabotage attempts in Parliament that undermined our negotiating position and led to the deal that you are now complaining about?

Oh dear.

This is the only part of the letter that can possibly be misinterpreted. The rest just sets out the situation as it appears to the French.

I can't see anything in this about damaging the UK. Perhaps one of our posters who live in France can translate it for you Ug (or are you an expert reader of French?)

I have seen several translations of this on twitter by native French speakers or by people who speak and read French (yes, we do have Brits that can do this . I'll post one or two after I've heard Ug's response.

Course it was all those remainers fault -Frosty the unelected no man wrote and signed a deal no one bothered to read. Why Johnson is bothered by this when he’s allowing sewage being poured into the sea and overfishing means whole species are rapidly declining. Surely he should be more concerned with averting the climate crisis, if that isn’t done there won’t be any fish anyway.

MerylStreep

*New Jersey*
And this from a poster who’s always giving us in the uk geography lessons as to where our ports are situated.

I am not sure at all you understood the relevance of this comment!!!

ExDancer I am sure understands geography very well, and the reality of this situation.

I posted a translation at 11.31 * MaizieD*. The issue sees to have mostly been about the translation of "dommages" as damage. It can mean that, but here in the plural and in the context of the letter it has the sense of downsides or disadvantages.

Here:
It's necessary to show European public opinion that agreements have to be respected and are non negotiable, and that there are more downsides to leaving the union than staying in".

Mamie

I posted a translation at 11.31 * MaizieD*. The issue sees to have mostly been about the translation of "dommages" as damage. It can mean that, but here in the plural and in the context of the letter it has the sense of downsides or disadvantages.

I just posted the snippet in French as a back up to your translation, Mamie. Seeing as you're an evil Remainer you might have been deliberately mistranslating it???

(Good excuse, isn't it? I'd actually gone away and done something else and forgotten the full content of everyone''s posts...)

98 % of fishing permit have been granted so all this is for 2% and those boats have no History of Fishing in those waters.
I agree with Australia comment to Macron.. Get over it.