Major disruption of goods heading into the UK could be just two weeks away as a dispute with French fishermen threatens to boil over.
Protesters could block the Port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel as part of an escalating row over post-Brexit fishing rights.
Furious French government ministers have threatened to sever ties with the UK – and even raised the prospect of cutting off power to the Channel Islands.
French boats now need to apply for licences to continue to operate within 12 miles of the UK and Jersey coasts, but the vast majority have been turned down.
The government has been accused of taking France’s fishing industry ‘hostage’ by counterparts in Paris and protests look inevitable.
Fishing leaders are openly threatening to bring disruption to Britain’s supply chains, at a time when a shortage of HGV drivers is already causing havoc for customers.
It raises the prospect of shipments of goods languishing on the other side of the Channel in the run up to Christmas.
Ringleader Olivier Lepretre, chairman of the Hauts-de-France Regional Fisheries Committee, confirmed blockades are being considered.
He warned ‘the British have got two weeks to react and then we will go on the attack’, according to the Daily Mail.
Mr Lepretre said blockades would target ‘especially those handling the import and export of goods’.
The French government has critcised the UK but requested protests are delayed while diplomatic efforts to resolve the impasse are undertaken, according to the fishing chief.
He said he expected there would be coordinated acts of retaliation along France’s northern coast, including by the Normandy fishermen who operate off Jersey, if more licences aren’t granted.
Mr Lepretre has previously said: ‘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.’
French prime minister Jean Castex told parliament that Britain ‘does not respect its own signature’ and accused it of introducing ‘new conditions and delays’ to undermine post-Brexit fishing arrangements agreed during the EU withdrawal process.
He told broadcaster Europe 1 ‘we will not stand for this’ and repeated suggestions made by ministers France could retaliate by stopping providing energy to the UK’s crown dependencies in the Channel.
In a bid to ease tensions, ministers disclosed the methodology it uses to decide which applications are approved to the European Union this week.
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