THE FACT that our coastal waters are full of fish that we have a right to catch, eat and trade is a no-brainer. But you wouldn’t have thought so while Britain was a member of the European Union or, subsequently, coping with the sell-out Tory EU exit deal.   

The subtitle of Brian Denny's booklet — Develop Our Coastal Communities for a Sustainable Future in an Independent Britain — nicely sets out how an independent future is on the cards.

But a sustainable fishing industry depends on the momentum built after 2026, following which Britain has the right to exclude EU boats from its fishing waters, though no-one wants a return to the farcical cod wars with Iceland of the 1970s.