‘Stupid Brexit’ means high tariffs, says Dukes

FORMER Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes has said we will see a hard border and high tariffs after Britain’s ‘egregiously stupid’ decision to leave the EU.

The ex-finance minister said: ‘If, at the end of this process, the United Kingdom is outside the EU customs union and outside the single market, then there will not only be a hard border, but a hard customs border between the UK and the rest of the EU, including the Republic of Ireland.’

He urged the State to invest in ports and airports to soften the impact of Brexit on imports.

Speaking at the MacGill Summer School, in Glenties, Co. Donegal, yesterday, he said the Brexit vote reflected the ‘authentic voice of England’, as Scotland and Northern Ireland had voted to remain. He added: ‘I am a quarter English, I have a great regard for the English and I am devastated that they have participated in what must be one of the two most egregiously stupid decisions of this decade of the 21st century; this and Donald Trump.’ And his comments were backed up by ex-Fine Gael minister Lucinda Creighton who told reporters at the summer school there is ‘no alternative but to have a border’.

The former junior minister for European affairs said the ‘Government line’ that there will be no return to a hard border is not sustainable. When asked if she agreed with Mr Dukes’ position that a hard border is inevitable, she said: ‘If the UK persists with its current position that it is intent on leaving the customs union then there is no alternative but to have a border, and then the question is how do we manage it and how do we prepare for it. That is the real challenge for the Government over the next 18 to 24 months.’

She said: ‘I can understand that the Government has to negotiate from a hard position but they also have a responsibility to business and to people whose lives and jobs depend on being able to export to the United Kingdom.

‘I am thinking particularly of the agri-food sector and the timber industry but there are many others,’ she added.

‘There are so many technical, legal and trade issues that are insurmountable and will inevitably lead, as Alan Dukes has said, to a hard border and there is really no way around it, it is simply an issue of managing it.’ However, she praised the Government for its preparatory work on Brexit.

Meanwhile, Europe’s chief negotiator on Brexit Michel Barnier warned that friction-free trade between Britain and the EU will not be possible. This contradicts British prime minister Theresa May and her Brexit secretary David Davis, who have repeatedly said they will have a ‘seamless and frictionless’ border between the Republic and the North.

The export of live animals and animal products will be subject to border checks in both directions, while there will also be checks over VAT declarations, the EU’s Brexit chief negotiator said in a speech.

‘Government view is not sustainable’