Thread by @JamesCrisp6

Brexit boss Michel Barnier's speech yesterday has opened a can of worms on the Irish border backstop issue.

He said, ""We will have to find an operational way of carrying out checks and controls without putting back in place a border."

1/

And

"We would be obliged to carry out controls on goods arriving in the Republic of Ireland. My team have worked hard to study how controls can be made paperless or decentralised, which will be useful in all circumstances,"

2/

This begs a few questions - isn't this maximum facilitation by any other name?

cc @DavidDavisMP

Isn't @MichelBarnier guilty of 'magical thinking'?

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Finally and most crucially - if there is a way to avoid a hard border in Ireland in a no deal Brexit ... WHY DO WE NEED A BACKSTOP AT ALL?

Why not just do the no deal solution?

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I put this question to the European Commission's chief spokesman . Here is the exchange which ended with him telling me "to write what I like".

europa.eu/!UT83gT

I am not alone in thinking that the commission has shot itself in the foot in the rush to cover up its tracks after being accidentally honest on Tuesday and saying no deal = border checks. That honesty drew Dublin's ire.
6/

https://twitter.com/nick_gutteridge/status/1088411181256183808

Now to be clear. I am not saying the Irish border is not an issue. It is. A very important issue. And Britain should take its responsibilities seriously and sincerely.

7/

All I am saying is that the Commission has publicly undermined the case and logic for the backstop it dreamt up and insisted upon.

Which is a balls-up in anyone's book.

ENDS

STOP PRESS. Here is the latest from Leo Varadkar.

https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1088410626374942720

He told me to write what I want. So here it is.

telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/… via @Telegraph