Hain’s amendment aims to prevent ‘return to Troubles’

PETER Hain has tabled an amendment to the Brexit Bill in a bid to ensure a frictionless Border between the North and Republic.

It says the Bill should not “breach the obligations” of the Good Friday Agreement nor “create hard Border arrangements”.

The amendment also seeks assurances on the EU internal market and customs union.

“I’ve become increasingly concerned, as former secretary of state for Northern Ireland, that the [UK] government has no real solution to the Border problem,” Mr Hain said.

“There is an unwillingness at this very late stage to work out how to resolve this.”

The Labour peer said he no longer believed the Conservatives were an “honest broker” in the effort to sustain the Good Friday agreement.

The amendment has been tabled by Mr Hain as well as Tory Ros Altmann, the former head of the civil service Bob Kerslake, and the Liberal Democrat Alison Suttie.

Just last week, Mr Hain warned that the “hard dogma” of Brexiteers risks bringing “bombing and shooting” back to Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, Ms Altmann said that “the leave campaign was committed to Northern Ireland”.

“The British people did not vote to break up the UK; they did not vote to put Northern Ireland at risk.”

Elsewhere, the Scottish and Welsh governments yesterday said they will introduce bills into their parliaments aimed at keeping regional powers that come back from Brussels after Brexit, in a move that could complicate British plans to leave the EU.

Several powers which have been devolved onto the regional governments, such as agriculture and fisheries, are administered from Brussels because they fall within EU frameworks.

The British government needs a deal with Scotland and Wales before the summer in order to pass the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.