Politics

How Boris Johnson’s leaked Brexit plan would actually work


Boris Johnson is set to submit his final Brexit deal to the EU in the coming days in a last-ditch attempt to secure a deal before the October 31 deadline. A draft was leaked to the press on Monday and detailed his alternative to the Irish backstop, which suggested custom posts along both sides of the Irish backstop. Irish politicians have condemned the proposals, but what exactly do the plans mean and how would they work in practice?

The new proposals intend to provide a workable alternative to the Irish backstop, the mechanism to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The existing backstop, outlined in Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement effectively keeps the UK in a customs union with the EU and Northern Ireland.

As a result, many EU laws will still be imposed on the UK, restricting its ability to do its own trade deals.

But the Government’s latest Brexit plan suggests establishing an “all-Ireland” trade zone, that would allow certain goods to move across the Irish border without any checks.

This will be made possible by both sides sticking to the same rules and regulations in terms of how the goods are produced.

Food and agriculture goods are expected to be included within the zone, with other imports and exports required to pass through newly constructed customs clearing houses a few miles away from the Irish border.

The clearance centres will be built between five and 10 miles away from the current border.

Lorries carrying goods produced in sectors where the EU and UK are no longer aligned would have to declare what they are transporting.

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Brussels fears customs sites could become targets for terrorists and are opposed to building anywhere near the border.

By keeping Northern Ireland aligned with the EU to allow for the frictionless trade zone, there would be a small regulatory border created in the Irish Sea.

This is because only Northern Ireland will be required to stick to the rules and the rest of the UK will be free to diverge.

The DUP have suggested they could approve such a plan, as Northern Ireland will be treated the same as the rest of the UK in every other customs area.

But Irish politicians have condemned the proposal, with Ireland’s deputy prime minister branding it a “non-starter”.

Mr Johnson has downplayed the idea that clearance centres would form part of the UK’s final Brexit proposals.

He told the BBC: “That is not what we are proposing at all.”

But he said it was a “reality” that there will need to be customs checks on the island of Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.

He said: “A sovereign united country must have a single customs territory.”



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