Tory leader William Hague heard calls for wholesale withdrawal from the Common Fisheries Policy as he met fishermen in Hastings today.

The Tories have promised renegotiation of the controversial European Union policy, but the fishermen insisted that nothing short of withdrawal could save their industry.

They said 30 years of Brussels quotas had seen fish stocks decline, incomes plummet and numbers employed on the boats in the town fall from 400-plus to less than 100.

Mr Hague conceded that Tory governments of the past were responsible for taking Britain into the CFP and had not succeeded in reforming it.

But he said: "We have a completely different approach to any other government in the last 30 years.

"We are looking for a pretty drastic revamp. The CFP has been a disaster. We are proposing renegotiation so that fishing policy is under national and then local control, so local fishing industries can decide what happens in their areas."

Mr Hague had a stormy reception as he arrived to talk with the fishermen in the appropriately-named Maggie's Cafe in Hastings' fish market, set amid the town's historic net-drying sheds.

Many Labour and Liberal Democrat protesters infiltrated the 250-strong crowd of Tory supporters, chanting "going down, going down, going down", while a contingent from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party hurled mockery from a pub terrace across the road.

Gary Smith, a GMB union official demonstrating about privatisation of catering in local schools, complained to police after being manhandled away when he revealed a sign marked "Loser" as he spoke to Mr Hague.

Fisherman Paul Joy, who has fished from Hastings since the 1970s, told Mr Hague: "We've had 30 years of a regime which has destroyed our fish stocks.

"Every fisherman wants to withdraw from the CFP. There are fewer and fewer of us who can earn a living from the boats and we get very little support from the Government - farmers get as much subsidy in a week as the fishing industry does in a year.

"There are no youngsters coming into the industry because they don't want to work for nothing."

After the Tory leader's departure, the fishermen - some wearing stickers calling for Britain's withdrawal from the EU - said they were impressed by his apparent determination to shake up the CFP.

But some were sceptical. Graham Coglan said: "It's good that he listened to us, but politicians always listen and say they agree with you. When they get into office, do they do anything?"

Labour's Michael Foster, who won Hastings and Rye with a slim 2,560 majority in 1997, had been a good MP for the fishermen, said Mr Coglan.

Mr Hague later toured the Rock-a-Nore fish market area - where signs bearing the EU flag recorded its recent restoration using money from Brussels - and stopped off to inspect the merchandise in Johnny Swann's fishmongers.

June 5, 2001