Mike Hookem (NI). – Mr President, the real shame in the government betraying the British fishing industry is the lost potential. I’m not talking about the lost income, despite there being plenty of that as the UK continues to hand the EU a business worth an estimated GBP 6.3 billion a year. No, what I’m talking about is the lost potential to coastal communities, the lost opportunities for future generations, and the continued decline rather than renewed growth through our reclaimed fishing industry. Fishing is changing rapidly. It is becoming an industry of even greater skill than ever before as ships are computerised and mechanised. Yet, because of Theresa May’s determined betrayal of Brexit, there are generations of young people who will be denied the highly skilled opportunities their French, Danish, Norwegian or Icelandic contemporaries enjoy, and instead of enjoying renewed investment, the wealth of coastal towns will continue to ebb away as it has done since we joined the European bloc. Communities that have survived over hundreds of years due to the brotherhood of fishing will slowly cease to exist.

So please, EU, do the UK a favour and tell Theresa May no, non, nein, when she comes begging for an extension.