Government backs down on fishing medical certificate requirements – Carmichael responds

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today responded to concessions made by the government on its planned medical certificate requirements. In a letter sent to MPs last night [Wednesday], the government allowed for greater flexibility and “grandfather” rights for fishermen, and an extension of the deadline for grandfather rights to be applied to medical certificates to 30 April 2024.

Mr Carmichael said:

“It is good that the government has seen sense but it would have been better to have had some common sense from the start – rather than at the last possible minute. Far too much of this process has been driven from central government without any care for the knowledge that the catching sector could have shared.

“This constant veering from poorly planned policy to embarrassing U-turns is no way to give confidence for the industry. Fishermen have been in fear for their livelihoods under pressure from the government.

“I hope that this will be the start of a more open-minded and informed approach from the Department for Transport under the new minister. The government needs to step up and engage properly with fishermen so that we do not see this sort of cackhanded policy fiasco again.”