Plan to keep ‘soft’ Irish border will let EU migrants into UK
...but now they’ll need permits to get a job
MIGRANTS from the EU will be able to enter post-Brexit Britain via Ireland without passing through UK border checks, it emerged last night.
The proposal was revealed as the Government published a 28-page paper on its approach to Northern Ireland in Brexit negotiations.
Brexit supporters were confident the plans would not pose problems because EU nationals would be caught out by the UK employment system if they tried to work here.
The ‘Northern Ireland and Ireland’ position paper makes clear that ministers want to preserve the Common Travel Area, which has allowed free movement of UK nationals to the Republic and back again for almost a century.
They also want to keep the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic free of checkpoints so trade and movement can be ‘ frictionless and seamless’.
But that will mean EU nationals who fly to Dublin could then cross into Northern Ireland and then to Britain without going through UK passport checks.
The document acknowledged that restrictions on EU nationals would only start to bite if they tried to work or claim benefits here. It also suggested that EU nationals would not need a visa to come to the UK as a tourist.
The paper stated: ‘It is important to note that immigration controls are not, and never have been, solely about the ability to prevent and control entry at the UK’s physical border.
‘Along with other member states, controlling access to the labour market and social security have long formed an integral part of the UK’s immigration system.’
Lord Green, chairman of the Migration Watch UK think-tank, welcomed the paper. He said: ‘It has to be right to give priority to the Common Travel Area as we can be confident that the Irish authorities will be fully conscious of the security needs of the UK in policing their own border.’
Pro-Brexit Tory MPs also welcomed the proposals. Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, said there had been a free travel arrangement between the UK and Ireland since 1922 and he was perfectly happy for people from the EU to keep coming to Britain.
He added: ‘What they won’t be able to do is work or claim benefits.’
Irish politicians warned that an open border for goods would be a ‘smugglers’ charter’.
Senator Mark Daly, deputy leader of the opposition Fianna Fail party, told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘ The reports of the proposal about this “frictionless and seamless” border appears more like fiction and clueless.
‘There are over 300 miles of border between the north and the south of Ireland and there are more border crossings on this island than there are between the European Union and all the coun- tries to the east of it.’ Currently about 30,000 cross the border every day, many commuting to work.
There are also huge transfers of agricultural produce, including 10,000 pigs. During the Troubles, border posts became a target for Republican terrorist groups and the Government has made clear its determination to avoid ‘hard borders’.
Prime Minister Theresa May said: ‘We do want to ensure that we don’t see a return to the borders of the past, we don’t see a return to a hard border.’ The Whitehall blueprint also makes clear the Good Friday peace agreement will be ‘at the heart of negotiations’.
Instead of physical border checks, ministers suggest that up to 80 per cent of small businesses could be exempt from customs rules.
Larger businesses would be trusted to declare what goods they are carrying between the two countries, with spot checks taking place away from the border.
A second option would see the Government work with Brussels on a customs agreement that would eliminate checks on goods moving between any EU country and the UK.
However, former Ukip leader Nigel Farage last night expressed concern about the plan, saying: ‘Once again the UK Government is bowing to EU demands.
‘The operation of the land border between the north and south should be none of their business.’
‘Bowing to Brussels’ demands’