Exploding the myths of the customs union

ANYONE worried by scaremongering about a customs nightmare or a return to violence in Ireland after Brexit should consider the success story of Britain’s biggest container port. It should put even the most troubled mind at rest.

At Felixstowe – which annually handles £77billion more worldwide trade than the £3billion crossing between the North and South of Ireland – customs clearance is so fully automated that delays are almost unheard of.

Indeed, 98 per cent of goods from outside the EU – and never forget, most of our trade is with the world beyond our 27 partners – passes through as smoothly as any from within the customs union.

It demolishes the myths that withdrawing from the EU customs union will lead to insuperable problems at the Irish border or cause lorries to back up for miles at Channel ports.

The truth is there’s no earthly reason why the system, already used at 70 per cent of British ports, shouldn’t be adopted in Ireland, thus avoiding any need for the hard border Remain voters claim will be inevitable when we leave the EU’s protectionist bloc.

Leave aside the contemptible alarmism of those such as Tony Blair and Lord Patten, who claim Brexit will undermine the Good Friday Agreement (which has nothing to do with the Irish border) and spark a revival of violence.

Forget that there is no appetite for a return to bloodshed on either side of the Irish sectarian divide – no matter how hard pro-Brussels fanatics strive to plant the idea in terrorists’ minds.

The border question is a side issue in the Brexit talks, easily soluble with modern technology and a little imagination. It has been wildly exaggerated by opportunists who will resort to any tactic – no matter how base – in their zeal to scupper any Brexit deal.