'It's so last century' Britain sends a gunboat - even if it is obsolete!

Curious little news item here from Manx Radio which interviews a ships officer on HMS Mersey which is apparently now in the Irish Sea on ‘Fishery Protection’ duties:

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/royal-navy-will-follow-o...

The vessel was previously in the Channel on anti-migrant patrols. So why the pre Brexit deployment to these waters now and why visit Mann who have their own Fishery protection vessel to cover the Manx territorial sea area?

Obviously reading between the lines following a ‘Boris Brexit’ the delineation between the UK and the 26 Counties is bound to become fraught. The deployment and some of the commentary seems a tad provocative. Indeed Celtic League forecast some time ago that delineation of sea limits could prove contentious.

Being somewhat of a dictatorial bent perhaps like Putin Boris wants to have his own Sea of Azov moment:

https://www.celticleague.net/news/irelands-sea-of-azov/

Perhaps it’s time Leo woke up and moved some ‘chess pieces’ himself.

The great irony is that HMS Mersey was destined to be decommissioned this year. However In March 2018 the MOD revealed that £12.7M had been allocated from the EU Exit Preparedness Fund to preserve the three Batch 1 OPVs, as they would be needed to control and enforce UK waters and fisheries following the withdrawal from the European Union

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/national/17241886.mod-lifts-axe-on-thre...

Bernard Moffatt

Celtic League