Boris Johnson’s Brexit border comments ‘made in heat of the election’
Brian Mahon, The Times, Dec 7 2019
Boris Johnson’s claim that there would be no checks on goods travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland needs to be seen in the context of the election, Fianna Fáil’s Brexit spox has said. The British prime minister yesterday described claims that his Brexit deal would lead to customs checks as “complete nonsense.” He was responding to a report from the UK Treasury which detailed how checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain would affect the Northern Irish economy. Asked about the claims, Mr Johnson said:
I haven’t seen the document you’re referring to, but that’s complete nonsense, and what I can tell you is that with the deal that we have we can come out as one whole UK.
The deal agreed between the UK and the EU in September involves the whole of the UK leaving the customs union, but Northern Ireland would remain aligned to EU regulations on goods and agriculture. This would effectively create a regulatory border down the Irish Sea. Fianna Fáil’s Brexit spox said:
Mr Johnson’s comments were made in the heat of the campaign, so that is the context within which he’s speaking. We have to take them at their word, that they intend to pursue the policy of getting the deal done.
The 15-page document says:
Customs declarations and documentary and physical checks will be highly disruptive to the NI economy. 98% of NI exporters to Great Britain are small, medium-sized enterprises who are likely to struggle to bear this cost. Key employment sectors such as retail are likely to be worst hit as a result of these changes.
Fianna Fáil’s Brexit spox said it was not surprising that there would be additional costs on exports for Northern Irish business. However, she said the agreed deal was still better than a no-deal. She said:
One of the main outcomes of getting some deal ratified, is at least you got a transition period, so you get a chance to make the transition more smoothly and it becomes more manageable.
Fine Gael’s Brexit spox said:
Look, this is an internal UK matter and that’s very clear. When we got into these negotiations about an Irish protocol, it was all about protecting the island economy and ensuring there was no hard infrastructure on the island of Ireland. We’re very keen to negotiate for future relationship that doesn’t just minimise the checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but crucially between Ireland and Great Britain as well.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the British Labour Party, yesterday said he had obtained a confidential government report which “drives a coach and horses” through the prime minister’s claim that there would be no border in the Irish Sea under his plan. He said he would negotiate a deal that would not require a border down the Irish Sea. he said:
This is cold, hard evidence that categorically shows the impact a damaging Brexit deal would have on large parts of our country.
Mr Richmond also spoke about how infrastructure at ports and airports was different from infrastructure between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. he said:
You already have elements of a hard border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, you already have that. There’s a massive difference between potential check in ports or potential customs declarations than there is between a hard border and checkpoints on the island of Ireland. That’s where the real security threat is. It’s the physical and practical against possibly the emotional.
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