Boris Johnson outlines Brexit deal in fish tie and herringbone shirt in nod to fisheries row

The Prime Minister’s tie caught the eye of viewers
No 10 Downing Street
Luke O' Reilly24 December 2020

Boris Johnson wore a fish tie and herringbone shirt as he outlined the Brexit deal.

Access to the UK' fishing waters was one of the key sticking points of the Brexit negotiations. 

The UK argued that as an independent coastal state it should be able to prioritise its own boats over those from the European Union.

However, most fish caught by UK fishermen are sold in Europe and Britain needed to maintain access to EU markets.

In the end both sides were able to reach a compromise - EU boats will continue to have access to British fishing waters, with the UK's share of fish in its own waters eventually rising to two thirds.

In a nod to the importance of fishing for Brexit voters the Prime Minister even wore a fish-patterned tie and a herringbone shirt - sartorial decisions quickly picked up by eagle-eyed viewers.

He said that for the first time since 1973 the UK “will be an independent coastal state with full control of our waters”, with the UK’s share of fish in its waters rising “substantially from roughly half today to closer to two-thirds in five-and-a-half years’ time”.

The detail could only be seen with a close up
No 10 Downing Street

Mr Johnson accepted that the UK had given ground on access to fishing waters, but said that as a result of the deal the country will be able to “catch and eat quite prodigious quantities of extra fish”.

Asked in which areas the UK and EU had conceded in the deal, the Prime Minister said: “It would be fair to say that we wanted to make sure for instance that we got… complete control of our fisheries from the get go and that’s just to say we had annual negotiations on fisheries within the shortest possible delay.

“The EU began with I think wanting a transition period of 14 years, we wanted three years, we’ve ended up at five years. I think that was a reasonable transition period and I can assure great fish fanatics in this country that we will as a result of this deal be able to catch and eat quite prodigious quantities of extra fish.”

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