Thread by @pmdfoster

Right. @SteveBarclay opens the #alternativearrangementscommission #aaclondonlaunch report on Irish Border and #brexit

@SteveBarclay So, @SteveBarclay says most parties now accept that technology will play a role in fixing the Irish border #Brexit conference.

Notes the £20m pledged by Govt on the search for Alternative Arrangements. /2

@SteveBarclay Notes the "steadfast" commitment of the UK Govt to the Good Friday Agreement.

And notes the importance of mutual consent on Good Friday Agreement.

!!!! Even though that is limited to NI constitutional position /3

@SteveBarclay .@SteveBarclay It remains the majority view that we should elave with a deal. Solutions must embrace "politcal, practical, technological". /4

@SteveBarclay "The solution across the border requires trust" says @SteveBarclay

True. A moment of introspection as to whether or not the conduct of the negotiations these last 2 years has decreased/increased trust?

That's it from the Brexit Secretary @SteveBarclay

@SteveBarclay Now. @GregHands - full of bounce this morning.

Notes he was 7 years a govt minister, before resigning a year ago (over Heathrow expansion, not #Brexit) [Titters]....but says thinks can move faster outside govt, which is bit slow in his experience. /6

@SteveBarclay @GregHands So. What are Alternative Arrangements?

It is: "What could be used to supercede the backstop"

Then quotes Strasbourg letters promising to hunt sincerely for AAs.../7

@SteveBarclay @GregHands Which of course - when it comes to delivering Brexit - could include a Customs Union, NI-only alignment...doensn't have to be a tech solution of the kind envisaged in this report. /8

@SteveBarclay @GregHands Now its @ShankerSingham1 who is going to go though the report...

Notes that the AA must protect EU single market AND deliver and independent trade policy for UK.

That's a big political assumption for a 'neutral' report./9

So @ShankerSingham1 says the AA idea is based on three principles:

- Context
- Consent
- Communities

Then talks about his Derry-Donegal Special Economic Zone...

/10

@ShankerSingham1 So, the idea is a Derry-Donegal, Newry-Dundalk corridor special zones, built around WTO exemptions for border traffic and security reasons....and these will be mutal assets for IE and UK. /11

.@shankersingham1

Wants a mulit-tier trusted trader programme....but notes that existing programmes are "legacy" programmes and they can be updated and expanded.

LOTS of work to do then, to get that done in "2-3 years" which reports says is doable). /12

@ShankerSingham1 Presume that won't be using "legacy" govt procurement and IT systemst. Or we could be waiting a while.

CHECKS: these will be "sparing" and "intelligence-led" and "with the consent of the communities"....which brings us back to that very question: consent. /13

@ShankerSingham1 Implicit in this report is a Stormont-style referendum that embraces NI special status in alignment with the EU, so the rest of GB can go 'buccaneering' - which is the point of all this.

It's not any workable solution, just a bucaneering one. /14

@ShankerSingham1 On that question of consent @ShankerSingham1 makes interesting point: could you sell Derry-Donegal SEZ as an economic *benefit* and get community buy-in...sounds good on paper, imagine be rather trickier in real life. /15

@ShankerSingham1 So Q from @samuelmarclowe ...sees lots more cost and bureaucracy...why would people comply? Why is that less intrusive than a hard border?

@shankersingham recognises it's 'new' but doesn't think it's an "enormous imposition"...so proposing transitional adjusgment fund/16

@ShankerSingham1 @SamuelMarcLowe @shankersingham So .@shankersingham1 says that the "exemption threshold" is now aimed at sub VAT-rated businesses, not at those with 1.4m turnover, which was original govt proposition that was "never going to fly" /16

@ShankerSingham1 @SamuelMarcLowe @shankersingham John Peet from Economist @JohnGPeet asks clarification that report rows back from Dec 2017 pledge for 'no phyiscal infrastructure and related checks and controls"

@ShankerSingham1 thinks that UK reading of this as "no checks at all" is "mistaken" and doesn't give a solution/17

@ShankerSingham1 @SamuelMarcLowe @shankersingham @JohnGPeet Now @DavidHenigUK how much of this can be done in a 'no deal' world.

@ShankerSingham1 refers to NI Economy dept report...which said infrastructure would be needed...in essence we need a deal. /18

@ShankerSingham1 @SamuelMarcLowe @shankersingham @JohnGPeet @DavidHenigUK Now @hayward_katy "whats the plan with the AA protocol" the group wants to give to EU

@shankersingham1 says protocol cd be alternative to backstop, alternative that goes into existing Withdrawal Agreement and render backstop unncessary. Or stand alone as a solution. /19

@ShankerSingham1 @SamuelMarcLowe @shankersingham @JohnGPeet @DavidHenigUK @hayward_katy So @lisaocarroll on SPS: what mechanism is there for Ireland to diverge? Aren't quite a lot of these things in teh backstop and opposed by DUP (like surveillance).

@ShankerSingham1 suggest using "existing flexibillities" of Union Customs Code..derogation for designated roads/20

Then @shankersingham1 wants "mobile veterinary units"...

Question: who's volunteering for those? Will they be protected/need protection of Gardai/PSNI? Wouldnt they be a target? /21

@ShankerSingham1 Now @awstojanovic - what happen on non-compliant trade? Gives EG of NI being backdoor to Single Market (cites texitile EG) and says obvious answer is to allow EU officials to intervene?

Now Denisu Staunton for Irish times asking how the 'borders' of the new SEZ would be policed?

@ShankerSingham1 @awstojanovic Now @ChrisGiles_ asking a question about VAT; how do u see this working under 2021 EU Vat reforms (agrees lots of leaky VAT borders) /23

@ShankerSingham1 @awstojanovic @ChrisGiles_ Answers: re compliance, if there is a trade deal with EU, no need to smuggle coz it will be zero-tariff in all likelihood. If diferentials, then HMRC and IE customs can fix.

Smuggling @shankersingam1 says there's already lots of smuggling on EU borders. /24

@ShankerSingham1 @awstojanovic @ChrisGiles_ So @ShankerSingham1 concedes @denisstaunton point that new SEZs (he mentions Shannon SEZ)....would need checks..but then says let's "turbo charge" that as an opportunity. /25