Brexit The Fishing Damage and the Opportunity.

When it comes to our fisheries policy we have a very poor situation. But 1st I started my research on this subject to understand the role our Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Foods Mr Robert Goodwill MP position could be. Sadly nearly all my research netted an expense scandal which continues to this day. I'll cover more on that later.

It would seem we are in crisis.  In part our stocks are depleted, primarily due to over fishing but more probably due to the fishing quotas and regulations. The intention of the regulation is to support sustainability but in reality it has brought us to the precipice, for example, Since 1970, landings into UK ports of the more valuable Demersal fish (those that feed at or near the sea bottom), such as cod, have fallen by about 80%. Gallingly, under the “ Common Fisheries Policy” CFP, a large proportion of the fish caught have been thrown back dead into the sea. For the period 2003–5, discard rates were 20–60% of the catch weight for fisheries specializing in demersal fish. The UK would surely have done better to retain national control over fishing as Norway, Greenland and Iceland have done. When the UK leaves the EU, we can regain control of our waters in a more measured fashion. Allowing perhaps for quotas to be more measured and better controlled, catches could be landed in the UK benefiting communities.

However, Brexit does not solve the issue that our quotas have been sold to foreign fleets. Spanish fishing industry owns 88% of Welsh fishing rights and most of the West coast up and until the Scottish border. Dutch and Icelandic firms control most of the East coast.  Unlike other countries the UK allows for the quotas to be sold to foreign firms. A one time deal with no residual business or hope of business to reach our shores.  The fishing industry has gone much the same way as our manufacturing and utilities, they have all been sold to American, Japanese and Chinese firms.

In reality the family silver has already been sold by previous successive governments. Which leads me to this and previous parliaments and their duplicity.

It's difficult to be positive about MPs these days, we limp from one misrepresentation to the next, from one devious plan to undermine the electorate to another.  I attempted to find good in our fisheries policies and hope that the government were championing the case of this industry’s survival, this industry have suffered enough. Looking for supportive quotes in order to lead this article, to give it substance. Instead, I saw one expenses scandal after another. It seems Robert Goodwill MP for Whitby is prolific in his ability to milk the system:

“I fly from Leeds/Bradford to Brussels, and we get a set fee of around £500, but if I buy a cheaper ticket, economy class for about £160 and £250, I can pocket the difference and, as a capitalist, also as a British Conservative, I see it as a challenge to buy cheap tickets and make some profit on the system“.

There are published reports, the row erupted again during a 2010 General Election debate at Whitby Community College. Robert Goodwill MP claimed the quote was regarding his tickets were nonsense. Despite claiming the quote was nonsense, Robert Goodwill MP generously decided to give £2,000 to good causes after his adventures in the land of expenses is revealed to his constituents.

Then there was also the little matter of Robert Goodwill MP topping the list of MPs who claimed Petty Cash during 2007/8. Robert Goodwill MP submitted 13 monthly Petty Cash claims of £250 instead of the usual 12 during 2007/8. £250 is the maximum you can claim per month. Robert Goodwill MP said he’d made a mistake with his expenses; he should only have claimed the maximum of £3,000 and reportedly paid the money back.

These amounts pale into insignificance when compared to his London accommodation expenses. Robert Goodwill MP was elected to Parliament in 2005 and, in late March 2006, he bought a property for £295,000 in Pimlico. The cost to the tax payer for Stamp Duty and Legal Fees was £9,731.76, plus a £225 survey for the property. On top of these fees Robert Goodwill MP claimed for furnishing his new flat. There are numerous receipts in the old MPs expenses system for the furnishings, which total many thousands of pounds. The list continues.

I see no benefit from his role not a single quote, memo, policy, concern or support. 

What does he do?