Fishy business: kipper rules Boris Johnson blamed on EU are actually British, says Brussels
- Likely next British prime minister held up one of the smoked fish at a Tory leadership conference to try to make a point about ridiculous EU rules
- Johnson claimed the kipper came from the Isle of Man, which is not bound by EU’s food safety regulations
Claims by Boris Johnson that regulations imposed by “Brussels bureaucrats” were damaging the trade in kippers have been debunked by the European Commission, which said the food safety rules he criticised were set by Britain.
Speaking during the final hustings of the Conservative party’s leadership contest on Wednesday night, Johnson held up a plastic-wrapped kipper that had come from a fish smoker on the Isle of Man, who he said was “utterly furious”.
“After decades of sending them through the post like this he has had his costs massively increased by Brussels bureaucrats who are insisting that each kipper must be accompanied by a plastic ice pillow,” said the MP, who said it had been presented to him by the editor of a national newspaper.
“Pointless, pointless, expensive, environmentally damaging ‘elf and safety’,” Johnson declared.
The case described by Mr Johnson falls outside the scope of the EU legislation
However, the European Commission hit back against the claims on Thursday, pointing to British government advice, which stresses foods that need refrigerating must be kept cool while they are being transported – potentially packed in an insulated box with a coolant gel or in a cooling bag.