A backstop is essential

SIR – Last December, the United Kingdom committed itself to the avoidance of a hard border on the island of Ireland, including any physical infrastructure or related checks and controls.

Recent commentary (‘Technology will keep the Irish border soft’, July 25) asserts that a report (Smart Border 2.0) presented to the European Parliament provides technological solutions to achieve this objective, and that the EU’S proposed backstop for Northern Ireland, as set out in the draft EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, is in breach of the principle of consent enshrined in the Belfast/good Friday Agreement.

In her speech in Belfast last week, Theresa May stated that no technological solution to avoiding a hard border “has been designed yet, or implemented anywhere in the world, let alone in such a unique and highly sensitive context as the Northern Ireland border”.

On March 15, Suella Braverman, the Brexit minister, stated in the House of Commons that the Smart Border 2.0 report does not go far enough to meet the commitment made by the UK to avoid a hard border.

The EU’S proposed backstop contains all of the technical measures required to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. It fully respects the Belfast/good Friday Agreement, including the constitutional status of Northern Ireland under that agreement; the EU would not have proposed it, and Ireland would not be supporting it, if it did not.

Mrs May has committed herself to having a legally operable backstop in the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. The Irish government greatly welcomes this commitment and looks forward to it being delivered. Adrian O’neill

Irish Ambassador to the UK London SW1

SIR – Mike Hodge (Letters, July 27) tells us from his experience with HM Customs that we could easily go back to charging import duty after Brexit. But would we?

I do not think we have any plans to charge duty on goods from the EU. We plan to end the discriminatory practice of charging duty on goods from elsewhere. Thus, after Brexit, butter from New Zealand will be cheaper in London than in Paris.

Someone will think of moving it from London to Paris via Belfast and Dublin. To protect French farmers from competition, Brussels will have to charge duty at the Irish border. This is a problem, but it is not our problem. It is entirely a matter for the Irish and their masters in Brussels. Philip Roe

St Albans, Hertfordshire