Brexit news live: UK says France fishing row not over

More from Sky’s Beth Rigby now, who reports the following:

The Conservative Party has announced its candidate on Saturday for a by-election triggered by the death of James Brokenshire.

Tory members selected Louie French in its campaign to hold on to the Old Bexley and Sidcup seat in southeast London after Mr Brokenshire, Cabinet minister and constituency’s MP since 2019, died of lung cancer earlier this month at the age of 53.

The date for the by-election has yet to be announced, reports Lamiat Sabin.

The UK has rejected French claims of a deal to try to end the “fish wars” between the two countries, leaving Paris on course to launch reprisals in just 48 hours.

France claimed Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson had agreed to work on “practical measures” to resolve the dispute – but No 10 insisted that was wrong and it is up to France to back down.

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has this developing story:

Over to France now. The country’s secretary of state for European affairs said Paris “stands ready to implement proportionate and reversible measures” from Tuesday after accusing the UK of choosing to breach the terms of the post-Brexit trade deal over its handling of fishing licences.

In a threat of tweets, Clement Beaune insisted France was not merely missing “a few licences, but more than 40 per cent of French detailed requests”.

“After 10 months, when such a significant amount of licences, targeting one country, is missing, it’s not a technical issue, it’s a political choice and a breach of the TCA (Trade and Co-operation Agreement).

“This is why France asks for action at the EU level, within the framework of the TCA, and stands ready to implement proportionate and reversible measures from 2 November, as we have announced repeatedly since last April. These measures are fully in line with the TCA.”

Cop26 president Alok Sharma has swerved questions over the prospect of the Cambo oilfield receiving approval, saying: “That’s not my decision, that’s not my role.”

It comes after Mr Sharma’s speech at the climate summit in Glasgow was interrupted by activists – branding him a “hypocrite” for the government’s support of the oilfield to the west of the Shetland islands, writes our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn.

Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme, Mr Sharma defended the UK’s efforts to decarbonise the economy as he dodged a question over whether giving the Cambo oil field the green light will help Britain demonstrate its “moral authority”.

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports the following from the G20 meeting in Rome:

France says Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson have agreed to try to defuse their clash over fishing rights, in a statement that raises more questions than answers.

The two leaders met for about 25 minutes at a G20 summit in Rome – one day after the UK threatened to launch a legal battle over Paris’s plans for reprisals, in protest at being denied fishing licences.

They agreed to work on “practical and operational measures” to resolve the dispute in the coming days and are united on the need for a “de-escalation” of the row, Mr Macron’s office said.

But there was no immediate comment from Downing Street – and it was unclear whether Paris has agreed to rethink its deadline to introduce port restrictions and border checks from Tuesday.

Mr Johnson had vowed the UK would do “whatever is necessary to ensure UK interests” if France ploughed ahead, arguing it is in breach of the Brexit trade agreement.

More from the Kemi Badenoch. The equalities minister insisted that while the government does not believe in gender self-identification for trans people, there should be a process to get gender recognition certificates.

When told some trans activists would say the fact she did not accept the statement trans women are women, is in itself a form of violence, Ms Badenoch told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme:

“I think it’s sad that the debate has turned into one of name-calling.

“What I would ask people to do is actually look at what the policies are, what it is we’re doing in order to protect people of all types, whether they are LGBT, of different race, racial backgrounds, the different sexes.

“We are a government that believes in equality and fairness for all, and everything we’re doing is to make sure that we have an equal society, and we should not get to a point where having a different opinion becomes a reason to insult other people. That’s absolutely wrong.”

Sky’s Beth Rigby reports the following about Boris Johnson’s “walking meeting” with Emmanuel Macron.