Thread by @hayward_katy

A quick response to the ERG report on @BorderIrish.

First, to be welcomed:
- It has been published
- It underlines that a ‘hard’ border NI/IRL is ‘totally undesirable’
- It sees customs measures as not altering NI's constitutional position
- It makes no mention of drones.
1/

It interprets 'no hard border' specifically to mean 'no physical infrastructure at the border'.
This appears to mean no limit to checks + inspections away from the border & entailing huge administrative burdens for cross-border traders.
So ‘no hard border’ ≠ frictionless.
2/

Vision of what could be done post-Brexit rests on several assumptions:
no UK-EU tariffs; broad ‘equivalence’; continuation of privileges of EU membership (e.g. access to VIES); close bilateral cooperation with Ireland;
and unfalteringly deep UK-EU mutual trust.
3/

It wants EU to assume the continuation of compliance & common standards in the UK, whilst allowing the UK to have the capacity to diverge at will.
This is a v.unrealistic interpretation of what it is to be a third country outside the EU. Especially in relation to agriculture.
4/

Things it ignores:
- Non-EU trade into UK
- Businesses too small to carry Trusted Trader status/new admin costs
- Sensitivity & security issues re: 'inspections' for traders across border, no matter where they take place
- Most substantive research on Brexit+NI/border/trade.
5/5