Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 15 June 2016.
First, I thank the right hon. Gentleman for speaking about the reforms we carried through in the last Parliament; my hon. Friend Richard Benyon was absolutely crucial in delivering those changes. We have seen in the last five years an increase in the value of the UK fishing industry of something like 20%.
The point I would make is that we export every year about £1 billion-worth of fish to the EU. No country in the world has a trade agreement with the EU that does not involve tariffs—taxes—on the sale of its fish, so there is no way we would get a better deal from the outside than the deal we get on the inside. Working with our fishing communities, working with our fishermen, keeping that market open and making sure that we manage our fish stocks locally and appropriately are very much part of our plan.