Is the Brexiteer’s Solution the Irish Border feasible?

We are back again with a new instalment based upon the European Research Group’s proposal on solving the issue surrounding the Irish Border. What is important to establish initially is that Brexiteers do not see the Irish Border as a problem that requires a solution - so sorry if I misled you in the title of the Blog. Their statement states the only action required along the border is ‘modifying existing arrangements’. There are many reasons why I believe that is far from feasible.

Firstly, if anyone has read the Good Friday Agreement, they will know that regulatory alignment is mandatory when discussing the Irish Border and anything that deviates from that will likely cause the collapse of the socially and politically invaluable agreement. The modifications of existing agreements, as wishful as it sounds, is inconceivable with the proposals put forward just a few days prior. The idea that the UK can remove itself from a common rule book yet have frictionless trade is dream like if nothing else and the EU has been clear to a t that that scenario will not happen. Furthermore, modifications could never be made to the Good Friday Agreement to specify specific goods or services restricted across the border as any modification made could be seen as an attempt for renegotiation and if the British people have learnt anything from the last two years, it is that the government negotiating is not it’s strong suit.

Secondly, I strongly dislike when political organisations or ministries suggest that a technological solution will solve all problems regarding a specific issue. Initially, when the government discussed maximum facilitation, a technological solution was discussed that would measure the value of trade crossing the border to the exact amount so that the UK could hand the correct value in tariffs directly to the EU. However, as British citizens, we know how quickly a technological solution can turn into a catastrophe – I am of course referring to the NHS transition back in 2013 when a new tech solution ended up increasing delays significantly, increasing costs, losing patient records and the delayal of emergency procedures. A new government audit report recommended the government becomes less fanciful regarding the potential of technological solutions and cites the extraordinary increase in costs incurred by the MoD just a few years ago. So, when we are so close to Withdrawal Day, I see the proposal of a technological solution to the Irish Border becoming less and less likely and the chances of this solution being successful just as unlikely.

Now whilst the ERG has merely been critiquing the Government’s proposals towards Brexit for the past year, it represents a sigh of relief that the new report suggesting a techological solution and minor modifications to the relationship of the two Irish nations is fanciful to put it one way. No doubt the proposals are approved by many but the EU dismissed the proposals immediately and many others agreed. The plan has been dubbed ‘an unworkable distraction’ and I agree with this statement. The plan is immature frankly as it fails to take into account the context of the situation whereby frictionless trade on the island is vital to the Northern Ireland economy and that the DUP will not support a border across the Irish Sea. One can dream as much as they like but these plans are just a distraction to create the perception that the ERG are providing suitable alternatives to the Chequers Plan however, that is far from true. Whilst the ERG may have garnered support for their sentiments today, their ideas are unsuitable and inadequate and show a lack of awareness of the Irish political system.

So whilst I may have gone on a slight tangent/rant to the title of this blog post I felt it was important to not exactly address the question but rather discuss the flawed aspects. This, I hope, will provide my clear opinion that the proposal put forward on Thursday13^th September is nothing but fanciful work put forward by a group demanding suitable solutions that it does not have solutions for.

If you have managed to get this far, thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed this post. If you like this post, please let me know and I can make more similar to this :)