SO WHAT IS HER NEW PLAN FOR IRISH BORDER?
It is a fall-back solution to the question of what happens to the Irish/Northern Irish border when the UK leaves the EU’s ‘border-free’ single market.
Normally, countries impose customs checks on trading borders, but all sides agree that, to respect the peace process, there can be no hard border after Brexit. What is Canada +++?
Hardline Tory Eurosceptics want a zero-tariff free-trade deal based on the EU’s Canada deal, with additional agreements on security cooperation and services.
By abandoning aspects of Chequers that tie the UK closely to the single market on goods, they argue the UK would be able to secure free-trade deals around the world.
But the EU offer – as repeated by Donald Tusk yesterday – is a Canadastyle deal which would only apply to Great Britain.
What does the EU want?
To prevent a hard border, it says Northern Ireland must stay in the customs union and single market if no agreement is made.
Regulatory and customs checks would then take place between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
The EU wants to protect the integrity of the single market and stop Northern Ireland being used as a back door for cut-price goods.
But Theresa May says this amounts to breaking up the Union.
What is the latest UK solution?
To keep Great Britain and Northern Ireland within elements of the EU’s customs arrangements for a limited period. This would only come into
force if there was no concrete plan for a future trading relationship by the end of the transition period on December 31, 2020.
The UK would be restricted in what trade deals it could negotiate with other countries because we would still have to follow EU tariffs.
In addition, Northern Ireland could be kept closely aligned to EU single-market rules, while the rest of the UK could diverge. The plan would, however, also include regulatory checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. What’s wrong with that?
Anything that treats Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the UK is a red rag to the Democratic Unionist Party, which props up Mrs May’s government.
DUP leader Arlene Foster said this week she was ‘not bluffing’ about voting against anything that created checks ‘in the Irish sea’ – adding that ‘the red line is blood red’.
What do Brexiteers say?
Jacob Rees-Mogg and the European Research Group say the Irish border problem has been largely invented by Brussels as a way of keeping this country tied to the bloc.
They hate the idea of staying in the customs union as it would limit our ability to strike new trade deals. They say there are technological answers to goods and regulatory issues. Boris Johnson has urged Mrs May to tear up the backstop.
What happens next?
The Irish backstop is the last issue left to secure the withdrawal agreement, which also covers the divorce money, citizens’ rights, and the transition period.
It must be hammered out by the end of November. If the two sides cannot bridge the gap, they’re heading for no deal.
What is the Northern Irish backstop?