Thread by @DmitryOpines

1/ Greg Hands and Nicky Morgan will co-chair a commission into 'alternative arrangements.'

For me whether this is another unicorn hunt PR exercise rests on one question:
- Is the goal to avoid a permanent backstop, or a permanent backstop provision?

brexitcentral.com/former-ministe…

2/ If the goal is to come up with customs arrangements to convince the EU withdraw its demand a WA include the backstop provision, then this is a waste of time.

3/ Even were the Commission to unearth a brilliant solution, there would be no way to implement it before Brexit.

The EU would therefore need the backstop provision regardless. It is not going to risk the GFA on an unimplemented plan without legal assurances (a backstop).

4/ However, this commission could still be tremendously useful if it takes a realistic approach and explores ways the backstop's activation could be avoided or ended swiftly.

What could the UK (and Ireland) implement in the next 2-5 years to have a GFA-non violating border?

5/ The commission could also use its convening power and intellectual heavy artillery to look into how the Northern Ireland border could handled in a No-Deal scenario.

The government's current plan is legally dubious and questionably sustainable. Maybe there's a better way?

6/ To summarize, there is a ton of useful work a committee like this could do, provided it is aiming to explore the customs challenges presented by Brexit in the real world, and not the political challenges customs presents to Tory unity in the House of Commons. /end