Conservative peer Lord Michael Forsyth took SNP MP John Nicolson to task over his attack on Boris Johnson’s handling of the EU. The former Scottish Secretary ridiculed Mr Nicolson, after the SNP MP suggested that Boris had “sold fishermen down the river” with his Brexit tactics. In response, Lord Forsyth pointed out that Mr Nicolson’s own party leader Nicola Sturgeon wanted to lock Scotland’s fishermen into the Common Fisheries Policy, which had devastated the UK fishing industry.

Speaking on BBC’s Any Questions, Lord Forsyth also took aim at French President Emmanuel Macron’s sense of entitlement over British fishing waters.

He compared the EU demand to continue taking 60 percent of fish caught in British waters to the idea that Britain “was entitled to 60 percent of grapes in France and we could make our own wine from that”.

Lord Forsyth said: “We have voted to leave the EU. Why did we do that? Because we wanted to take control of our own laws and our own fishing grounds.

“The idea that Boris or anyone else could sell out the fishing industry when people voted so comprehensively for Brexit is anathema.”

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When pressed on whether finance or fisheries were worth saving, the Tory Brexiteer said: “I work in finance. The City can look after itself.

“But, we don’t need to sell out our key basic industries that are so important to our key coastal communities, particularly in Scotland, which is so dependent on fishing.

“We will be an independent coastal state. That is not to say that Europe won’t come to fish in our water, but it will be on our terms, our interests, we will decide.”

He then directed his attack at Jon Nicolson, saying: “Joh, to say that this Government would sell fisheries down the waters is laughable.

“You are the ones who want to stay inside the CFP, which absolutely maintains the status quo and sells fishing down the river.”

When Mr Nicolson said that the SNP wanted “free trade, open borders and more workers to come in,” Lord Forsyth rebutted: “Jon, we are talking about fishing here.”

The attack on the SNP and President Macron comes after the French President made a last-ditch push for a tougher EU negotiating position with Britain over the post-Brexit relationship

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The EU has already announced that an agreement on fisheries is a pre-condition for the kind of free trade deal.

Mr Macron is facing pressure from within France to demand “no restrictions” on fisheries in a Brexit trade deal with the UK.

But, the UK has insisted that any agreement must be based on the understanding that “British fishing grounds are first and foremost for British boats”.

Once formally outside the EU next year, as an “independent coastal state”, the UK will control what’s known as an exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a vast maritime territory stretching up to 200 nautical miles into the North Atlantic.

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