Emmanuel Macron tonight warned that France will retaliate on Tuesday unless Britain backs down in the fishing row – after Boris Johnson denied they had done a deal to resolve the bitter dispute

Emmanuel Macron tonight warned that France will retaliate on Tuesday unless Britain backs down in the fishing row – after Boris Johnson denied they had done a deal to resolve the bitter dispute.

The French president insisted that unless the UK shifted reprisals will happen within days, saying ‘the ball is in Britain’s court’. 

The combative stance came after at a press conference at the end of the G20 summit in Rome – after Mr Johnson told his own briefing for journalists that the UK ‘position is unchanged’.  

Boris Johnson said he was ‘puzzled’ by a letter from French prime minister Jean Castex to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, in which Mr Castex said the UK should be shown ‘it causes more damage to leave the EU than to stay in’.

At a G20 press conference, Mr Johnson said: ‘On fish, I’ve got to tell you the position is unchanged.And I’ll just say this, for the record. I must say I was puzzled to read a letter from the French Prime Minister explicitly asking for Britain to be punished for leaving the EU.

‘I just have to say to everybody I don’t believe that that is compatible either with the spirit or the letter of the Withdrawal Agreement or the Trade and Cooperation agreement, and that’s probably all I’ll say about that one.’

But Mr Macron said: ‘The ball is in Britain’s court…’If the British make no movement, the measures of November 2 will have to be put in place.’

In a day of extraordinary briefing, French sources initially claimed that Mr Johnson and Mr Macron had reached a deal on de-escalation during 30 minutes of talks. 

There were no officials or cameras present as the pair tried to reach an understanding one-on-one. 

That version was rejected by Mr Johnson, who stressed that he viewed Mr Macron as a ‘friend’ but they had a ‘wide-ranging and frank’ discussion. ‘On fish I have got to tell you the position is unchanged,’ he said. 

Earlier the PM’s spokesman said it is a matter for France to decide whether to back off the threats.

‘We certainly stand ready to respond should they proceed with breaking the Brexit agreement,’ the spokesman said. 

French officials have warned they will bar UK fishing boats from some ports and tighten customs checks on lorries entering the country with British goods from Tuesday unless more licences are granted for their small boats to fish in British. 

Other threats have included a ‘go-slow’ at customs and even increased tariffs on energy bills in Jersey.  

A French aide told Reuters after thee talks: ‘The goal for both the president and the prime minister was to work towards de-escalation.’  

French sources told AFP the two sides agreed ‘operational measures’ to take the heat out of the row in the coming days. 

Earlier, they locked eyes as they visited the famous Trevi Fountain with other leaders attending the G20 summit in Rome. 

And Mr Macron appeared to shunt Mr Johnson out of the way to get next to Italian host Mario Draghi for photos.