"The Prime Minister gave the green light to Richard Lochhead, the SNP Fisheries Minister, leading the UK delegation in EU talks to resolve an international row dubbed the "mackerel wars".I'm tempted to say (minus the puns) that Alex Salmond's long-standing demand has been finally met. But as his representative, via a rather circuitous route, admits...:
He rejected the decision by Caroline Spelman, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for a junior farming minister with no responsibility for fisheries to make Britain’s case."
This is the first time a Scottish Fisheries Minister has travelled to an EU Council with the green light to speak on behalf of the UK, which reflects the vital importance of the mackerel fishery to Scotland.... a nationalist minister has been negotiating on behalf of the United Kingdom, not only Scotland.
Probably not the scenario Salmond expected (or was hoping for?) when he made the original demand, all that time ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment