News

Milford fishermen fear for future as UK signs 12-year deal on EU access to UK waters

Published

7 months ago

May 19, 2025

Local fleet ‘locked out’ as foreign trawlers retain access to Pembrokeshire coastline

A NEW deal between the UK and the European Union has sparked anger among local fishermen after it emerged that EU vessels will retain access to British waters until 2038 — effectively freezing post-Brexit arrangements for another 12 years.

The agreement, announced on Monday (May 19), confirms that the status quo on fishing access will continue, with EU boats allowed to operate in UK waters on the same basis as before. This comes despite earlier promises that the UK would take full control of its waters from 2026 under Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit deal.

In return, the UK has secured a simplified export regime for food products, including a new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement allowing seafood producers to sell raw shellfish and processed goods like sausages into the EU without extensive checks. British holidaymakers will also benefit from greater access to e-passport gates in Europe.

But in Pembrokeshire, where the local fleet has dwindled to just a handful of active fishing vessels — many of them small inshore boats registered under the “M” designation for Milford Haven — the reaction has been grim.

***The Welsh Government’s fisheries patrol vessel in Milford Marina (Pic: MHPA)***

‘A betrayal of Brexit promises’

One local fisherman, who fishes for crab and lobster off the Pembrokeshire coast, told The Herald: “We were told we’d get our waters back by 2026 — now we’re being told to wait another 12 years. Most of us won’t be here by then. It’s a betrayal.”

As locals well know, Milford Haven was once one of the busiest fishing ports in Britain, but today has only a modest local fleet, with most of the fish landed at the docks coming from Belgian or Spanish vessels operating under EU licences. These foreign boats often have greater range, capacity, and quota rights than local Welsh boats, leading to growing resentment.

“The EU trawlers come right up to the six-mile line and hoover up everything,” said another skipper, who asked not to be named. “We get the scraps, and now we’re being told to get used to it.”

***Fishermen protesting in Milford Haven that Brexit was not working for them, back in April 2018 (Image: Herald)***

Wider backlash across the UK

The reaction has been echoed across the British fishing industry. Elspeth Macdonald, Chief Executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, called the deal “a horror show,” adding: “It is far worse than Boris Johnson’s botched Brexit agreement. The industry has been sold out once again.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was even more blunt, saying: “If true, that will be the end of the fishing industry.”

Tim Eagle, Scottish Conservative spokesperson on fisheries, described the agreement as “an absolute disaster,” accusing the Labour government of “surrendering to Brussels.”

Local economy gets a mixed deal

The deal includes a new £360 million “fishing and coastal growth fund” intended to support investment in new technology and equipment. But it remains unclear how much, if any, of that money will reach Milford Haven or the small-scale fleet that still operates from Pembrokeshire.

Meanwhile, seafood processors and exporters in the region are cautiously welcoming the new SPS rules, which will make it easier to export shellfish and fish into EU markets.

“It’s a relief,” said one processor based near the docks. “We’ve had consignments held up or rejected because of paperwork since Brexit. Anything that makes it easier to sell to Europe is a good thing — but it doesn’t solve the problem that we’ve barely got any local fish left.”

The Herald understands that EU vessels currently land over half the fish processed through Milford Haven, with much of it shipped back to the continent. For many in the local industry, the port has shifted from being a home to Welsh fishing to a service hub for foreign fleets.

***British boats in Milford Haven (Image: MHPA)***

Welsh Government reaction awaited

While the UK government has defended the deal as providing “certainty and stability” to the fishing industry, opposition parties and coastal MPs have condemned it. The Conservatives have accused the Labour-led negotiating team of “handing back sovereignty,” and Plaid Cymru has called for Wales to receive a guaranteed share of the coastal fund.

Looking to the future

The agreement effectively rules out any major changes to fishing access for another generation. With most of Milford Haven’s remaining boats operating close to shore and relying on non-quota species like crab, lobster, and scallops, the prospects for growth appear limited.

“It’s a managed decline,” said one long-time observer of the port. “Unless there’s serious investment in small boats, apprenticeships, and fairer quota allocations, we could lose what’s left of our fleet before 2038 even arrives.”

Picture caption:

Fading fleet: Milford Haven was once home to one of the UK’s largest fishing fleets. Today, only a handful of “M” boats remain active, with most landings coming from foreign vessels (Pic: Milford Marina).

Crime

Swansea man dies weeks after release from troubled HMP Parc: Investigation launched

Published

4 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A SWANSEA man has died just weeks after being released from HMP Parc, the Bridgend prison now at the centre of a national crisis over inmate deaths and post-release failures.

Darren Thomas, aged 52, died on 13 November 2025 — less than a month after leaving custody. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has confirmed an independent investigation into his death, which is currently listed as “in progress”.

Born on 9 April 1973, Mr Thomas had been under post-release supervision following a period at HMP/YOI Parc, the G4S-run prison that recorded seventeen deaths in custody in 2024 — the highest in the UK.

His last known legal appearance was at Swansea Crown Court in October 2024, where he stood trial accused of making a threatening phone call and two counts of criminal damage. During the hearing, reported by The Pembrokeshire Herald at the time, the court heard he made threats during a heated call on 5 October 2023.

Mr Thomas denied the allegations but was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to a custodial term, which led to his imprisonment at HMP Parc.

Parc: A prison in breakdown

HMP Parc has faced sustained criticism throughout 2024 and 2025. A damning unannounced inspection in January found:

Severe self-harm incidents up 190%
Violence against staff up 109%
Synthetic drugs “easily accessible” across wings
Overcrowding at 108% capacity

In the first three months of 2024 alone, ten men died at Parc — part of a wider cluster of twenty PPO-investigated deaths since 2022. Six occurred within three weeks, all linked to synthetic drug use.

Leaked staff messages in 2025 exposed a culture of indifference, including one officer writing: “Let’s push him to go tomorrow so we can drop him.”

Six G4S employees have been arrested since 2023 in connection with alleged assaults and misconduct.

The danger after release

Deaths shortly after release from custody are a growing national concern. Ministry of Justice data shows 620 people died while under community supervision in 2024–2025, with 62 deaths occurring within 14 days of release.

Short sentences — common at Parc — leave little time for effective rehabilitation or release planning. Homelessness, loss of drug tolerance and untreated mental-health conditions create a high-risk environment for those newly released.

The PPO investigates all such deaths to determine whether prisons or probation failed in their duties. Reports often take 6–12 months and can lead to recommendations.

A system at breaking point

The crisis at Parc reflects wider failures across UK prisons and probation. A July 2025 House of Lords report described the service as “not fit for purpose”. More than 500 people die in custody annually, with campaigners warning that private prisons such as Parc prioritise cost-cutting over care.

The PPO investigation into the death of Darren Thomas continues.

Crime

Woman stabbed partner in Haverfordwest before handing herself in

Published

4 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Court Reporter

A WOMAN who stabbed her partner during a drug-fuelled episode walked straight into Haverfordwest Police Station and told officers what she had done, Swansea Crown Court has heard.

Amy Woolston, 22, of Dartmouth Street in Milford Haven, arrived at the station at around 8:00pm on June 13 and said: “I stabbed my ex-partner earlier… he’s alright and he let me walk off,” prosecutor Tom Scapens told the court.

The pair had taken acid together earlier in the day, and Woolston claimed she believed she could feel “stab marks in her back” before the incident.

Police find victim with four wounds

Officers went to the victim’s home to check on him. He was not there at first, but returned shortly afterwards. He appeared sober and told police: “Just a couple of things,” before pointing to injuries on his back.

He had three stab or puncture wounds to his back and another to his bicep.

The victim said that when he arrived home from the shop, Woolston was acting “a bit shifty”. After asking if she was alright, she grabbed something from the windowsill — described as either a knife or a shard of glass — and stabbed him.

He told officers he had “had worse from her before”, did not support a prosecution, and refused to go to hospital.

Defendant has long history of violence

Woolston pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding. The court heard she had amassed 20 previous convictions from 10 court appearances, including assaults, battery, and offences against emergency workers.

Defending, Dyfed Thomas said Woolston had longstanding mental health problems and had been off medication prescribed for paranoid schizophrenia at the time.
“She’s had a difficult upbringing,” he added, saying she was remorseful and now compliant with treatment.

Woolston was jailed for 12 months, but the court heard she has already served the equivalent time on remand and will be released imminently on a 12-month licence.

News

BBC apologises to Herald’s editor for inaccurate story

Published

6 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Staff Writer

THE BBC has issued a formal apology and amended a six-year-old article written by BBC Wales Business Correspondent Huw Thomas after its Executive Complaints Unit ruled that the original headline and wording gave an “incorrect impression” that Herald editor Tom Sinclair was personally liable for tens of thousands of pounds in debt.

The 2019 report, originally headlined “Herald newspaper editor Tom Sinclair has £70,000 debts”, has now been changed.

The ECU found: “The wording of the article and its headline could have led readers to form the incorrect impression that the debt was Mr Sinclair’s personal responsibility… In that respect the article failed to meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy.”

Mr Sinclair said: “I’m grateful to the ECU for the apology and for correcting the personal-liability impression that caused real harm for six years. However, the article still links the debts to ‘the group which publishes The Herald’ when in fact they related to printing companies that were dissolved two years before the Herald was founded in 2013. I have asked the BBC to add that final clarification so the record is completely accurate.”

A formal apology and correction of this kind from the BBC is extremely rare, especially for a story more than six years old.