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00:00Brexit was a disaster.
00:02The biggest mistake was we did not take control in the first place,
00:06but then we had the hand to negotiate.
00:08Now it looks like Brussels may hold us to account,
00:12and the only way we can get that better relationship is by
00:16possibly giving up some more access to our seas.
00:19There's a limited amount of fish out there.
00:21It would be a sad case that we've come this far
00:25if our fishermen's birthrights were gifted away
00:30to a wider group of people,
00:32where the economic benefit will be lost,
00:35because that fish will be caught.
00:36It won't be landed here.
00:37It won't be processed here or go directly into Europe,
00:40and that's a huge risk.
00:42I was involved in politics in 2010.
00:45I ran as a candidate for Westminster Parliament.
00:48I'm all for the EU.
00:49I'm not against the EU.
00:51Back in the 1980s, we joined a common market.
00:55The common market was a place to trade.
00:58We went into a political agreement,
01:02where power, sovereign power,
01:04was gifted to an unelected bunch of bureaucrats.
01:09We need to know what Brexit is.
01:10Everyone had a different view of what Brexit was to them,
01:13but at the end of the day,
01:14the agreement only began after we voted Brexit.
01:17I think the slice is big enough as it is.
01:20You know, I mean, yes, we have some of the most productive
01:24and well-managed fisheries in the Northern Hemisphere.
01:26What we need to do in the UK
01:28is to actually eat more of what's on our own doorstep.
01:31Yes, we export a huge amount of what we catch,
01:34but there's also a massive amount we import.
01:36I would ask Labour to have an instant dialogue
01:39with our own industries first
01:40before they go to any meetings with the EU.
01:43Labour need to understand the state of the industry,
01:46both in fisheries and agriculture.
01:48They need to construct dialogue straight away
01:51with our industry leaders and representatives,
01:52because it's only they who actually know what's going on.
01:56It's not the politicians.
01:57I think Brexit is still there.
01:58You know, it's still in the back of people's minds.
02:00It was a big event.
02:02The referendum was a big event.
02:03Brexit was a disaster,
02:06but there's a lot that's happened since then.
02:07It's not entirely down to Brexit.
02:09My vote has definitely changed.
02:11In the UK voters, of 100% of the quota,
02:14we catch 28%.
02:15In my 40-odd years at sea,
02:17the foreign fleet has increased and increased and increased
02:21to the point of view where I would say
02:24there are almost as much EU vessels fishing.
02:26So to ask for more access,
02:28you're almost cutting the throat of the industry.
02:31The industry's struggling to do this.
02:33There's nothing to give now.
02:34The industry's so tight in the hardship
02:37we're facing with a lack of quota and opportunity,
02:39and we have such a small fleet,
02:40a fraction of the fleet we used to have.
02:42Before all the EU carry-on here,
02:43there used to be 400-odd vessels working repeatedly there,
02:46but yet there's still the same amount of boats on the ground.
02:49The difference is there are foreign EU vessels
02:52instead of UK vessels.
02:53So to ask to cut more,
02:55absolutely not.
02:56We're in disaster for the industry.