UK rejects French claim of steps towards agreement over fishing rights row

No 10 says our stance has not changed' after French officials state Macron and Johnson found path to de-escalating dispute

A dispute between the UK and France over post-Brexit fishing rights has escalated significantly after a meeting between Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron, with Downing Street rejecting a French claim that the two leaders had agreed a path towards resolving the issue.

Johnson and the French president met alone for half an hour on Sunday morning on the fringes of the G20 summit in Rome, where they discussed next week's Cop26 climate summit, as well as tensions over Northern Ireland and fishing.