Sewage is the latest problem threatening Anglo-French relations

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s jokey claim that fish are happier swimming in British waters doesn’t seem so amusing now, writes Sean O’Grady

‘The English Channel and the North Sea are not dumping grounds,’ tweeted French MEP Stephanie Yon-Courtin (Getty)

When the British and French began their historic “entente cordiale” in 1904 they ended a century of mistrust and animosity. The grand bargain was based on balancing respective imperial interests in Africa, Indo-China and the Pacific, containing the emerging threat from Wilhelmine Germany, and a vague awareness that the two principal west European democracies had more in common than that which divided them. Through two world wars and, eventually, in a more or less harmonious partnership within the EU the alliance proved extremely durable. Then came Brexit…

Today, the issues that are souring Franco-British relations are more prosaic: fish, refugees and sewage. It is bad enough that Britain’s privatised water companies spew raw sewage into rivers and the waters of popular seaside resorts. That is a matter of private grief and internal anger at those companies and the government that allowed this pollution to occur with so little punishment. More shameful is the fact that the sewage has been making its way to the northern coastline of France. “The English Channel and the North Sea are not dumping grounds,” tweeted French MEP Stéphanie Yon-Courtin. There is nothing the French can do to protect their territorial waters against this malodorous discharge, a threat to marine and human health alike. France objects; but even if the British government wanted to do anything about it, it’s too late.

One of the most unfortunate consequences of this current “caretaker” government is that even measures that would yield an immediate political and diplomatic dividend, such as outlawing the disposal of raw sewage in this way, cannot be taken. The prime minister is otherwise engaged – usually at his leisure, it appears – and his senior ministers are either on holiday or campaigning for the leadership, on their own behalf or that of the two contenders. The French are not the only ones looking on with alarm at the British government’s own aimless drift. It certainly undermines the claim made by Brexiteers that the UK will be able to pursue higher environmental standards outside the EU. Jacob Rees-Mogg’s jokey claim that fish are happier swimming in British waters doesn’t seem so amusing now.

Sooner or later, by dint of common interests and geographical proximity, Britain and France will have to come to some new “entente” or, at least, should do so if they want to prosper more mightily and defend common interests. This is made more difficult by Brexit but the optimistic view is that, short of Britain being towed out into the Atlantic, the old rivals cannot ignore one another for long. It may take a change of government – not just PM – in Britain, however.