France shrugs off UK plan to deploy navy amid trade deal standoff
'Keep calm and carry on,' an Élysée official said on Saturday, quoting the British wartime slogan in response to London's decision to assign four gunboats to prevent illegal fishing.
FranceFrance has shrugged off plans by Britain to deploy Royal Navy ships to protect the country's fishing rights in the case of a no-deal Brexit, reports Sky News.
"Keep calm and carry on," an Élysée official told Reuters on Saturday, quoting the British wartime slogan in response to London's decision to assign four gunboats to prevent illegal fishing. They declined to comment further.
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that four 80-metre armed vessels are on standby to guard British waters from European trawlers if there is no new Brexit agreement on fishing rights after 31 December when transitional arrangements end.
Boris Johnson has been accused of "irresponsible" behaviour akin to an "English nationalist" after the Royal Navy gunboats were readied to patrol UK waters.