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"one of the things we’ve done on day one of leaving the European Union is to get rid of pulse trawling".

Boris Johnson, The Andrew Marr Show

3 January 2021

Facts

Andrew Marr asked Boris Johnson how ordinary voters would benefit from Brexit. The Prime Minister cited pulse fishing, saying:  "One of the first things we've done on day one is get rid of pulse trawling".

Pulse trawling, which involves the use of an electric current to force fish off the seabed making them easier to catch, was indeed banned in UK waters on 1 January 2021.

However, France and Belgium - both EU member states - had already outlawed the practice of pulse fishing in their territorial waters in 2019. The UK could have done the same when it was still a member of the EU.

An EU-wide ban was also passed into law in June 2019 and is due to come into full effect on 1 July 2021.

To his credit Andrew Marr challenged the Prime Minister’s false claim about pulse trawling, pointing out that “it’s nothing to do with leaving the EU.” More of that please!

Verdict

Johnson’s claim that the ban on pulse fishing was made possible by Brexit was a lie. He repeated the lie published by the Conservative Party the previous day, suggesting that Johnson’s lie on the Andrew Marr show was part of a concerted effort to deceive the British public. 

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