Nigel Farage has erupted at Sir Keir Starmer after reports that the Prime Minister’s fishing surrender to the EU could cost up to £6billion. Brussels fishermen have been handed access to UK waters for another 12 years from 2026 under the agreement struck by the Labour leader in May.

The Government could have given away up to £6billion of British fish over the period, according to new analysis by The Telegraph. The estimate is based on documents from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which showed the bloc took between £400million and £500million of fish from UK waters in 2023.

Reform UK leader Mr Farage told the newspaper: “It is truly astonishing that we have given away a huge sum of money.

“We’ve massively damaged our own industry, stopping future investment in return for absolutely nothing, and our coastal communities feel totally betrayed.”

However, the Government rejected the prediction because of potential variations in quotas and market prices.

Sir Keir guaranteed the EU access to British waters until 2038, but the UK retains the right to negotiate the amount of fish that Brussels can catch each year.

But Mike Cohen, the chief executive officer of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said it was a “fair and realistic” estimate.

Sir Keir made concessions on fishing in his Brexit “reset” deal with the EU in May, which covered areas including trade and defence.

A government spokesman said: “This is a made-up figure and not based on any policy that we have with the EU, or would have had under the previous deal.

“Under the previous Brexit deal, EU boats were provided de facto guarantees to UK waters beyond 2026.

“The deal we have secured means we can continue to decide and agree annually the amount EU vessels can catch in our waters, and gives UK fishing communities long-term certainty and stability.”