Return of Irish border checks ‘is inevitable’

A RETURN of border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic appears inevitable after Britain leaves the EU, MPs have warned.

The Commons Exiting the EU Committee said it appeared impossible to reconcile the Government’s decision to pull out of the single market and the customs union with its declared intention to maintain a “frictionless” border.

It said the Government’s proposals for dealing with the issue, including using technology to create a “light touch” border, were “untested and to some extent speculative”.

“We do not currently see how it will be possible to reconcile there being no border with the Government’s policy of leaving the single market and the customs union, which will inevitably make the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland the EU’s customs border with the UK,” the committee said.

But the report split the committee with four of the eight Conservatives present as well as the lone Democratic Unionist voting to reject it.

The findings echo the concerns of the Irish government which has demanded a written guarantee from the UK that there will be no return to the “hard border” of the past as a result of Brexit.

Republic of Ireland Premier Leo Varadkar has warned that without such an assurance, EU leaders will not give the green light for the second phase of the Brexit negotiations, including talks on a free trade deal, to begin at their summit on December 14 and 15.