Thread by @ConHome

Kicking off our fringe, co-hosted with @ProsperityUK_, on alternatives to the backstop in the ConservativeHome marquee! With @SuellaBraverman, @GregHands and @ShankerASingham.

The commission aims to provide an alternative to a backstop, making a deal possible and offering the chance of an orderly Brexit, says @SuellaBraverman.

Leaving with a deal "is the preferable outcome", she says, but "a new deal is required".

Adds that the Brady Amendment is the only thing that has passed the Commons.

The previous deal would lead the UK "inexorably into an indefinite customs union" argues @SuellaBraverman. Adds that the border problems had been "exaggerated, or confected" to further this strategy.

She then points out that there are already cross-border checks over the border.

Commission brings together people from different parties and opposite sides of the referendum, says @GregHands, united around a "common purpose".

Brady Amendment passed by 16, which is pretty good by "today's standards".

"What is clear is that the Withdrawal Agreement, and the backstop in particular, is not going to pass the House of Commons. That means you need something else." @GregHands

The technical panel is "a collection of the world's leading experts on all the parts of this question". They met 75 businesses and business groups, visited Ireland five times, and did a "roadshow" of six European capitals.

Now @GregHands explains how the commission aimed to protect the integrity of the Belfast Agreement and the EU single market whilst ensuring the UK can pursue an independent trade policy.

Proposals have been well-received by @BorisJohnson and by other European leaders, although only "politely" in Dublin. But Brexit wasn't ever going to maintain the whole status quo, says @GregHands.

All proposals are in operation somewhere in the world; no "unicorn technology"; and not the status quo.

Five key points: trusted trader scheme for large companies; two-island SPS zone with democratic safeguards; harness WTO 'frontier zone' rules to increase Cross-border trade...

...using EU transit mechanisms as seen with Switzerland; and having the British Government meet the costs of implementing these proposals.

Combination of strategies can avoid a hard, visible border, but people will have to do things they didn't have to previously.

Now @ShankerASingham is talking the audience through some of the more technical issues, and explaining the breadth of expertise it has drawn upon.

All the proposals integrate the principle of consent for both Northern Irish communities and have worked hard to meet the EU's needs. They have had "some good conversations" with the European Commission.

Proposal is that the UK Government would be able to avoid going into the backstop. Calls Brussels' bluff by reducing backstop back to an insurance policy, claims @ShankerASingham.

.@ShankerASingham: A handful of "very large companies" are responsible for 85 per cent of trade across the border by value, he adds, which makes a trusted trader scheme viable. For companies it is more like a "tax relationship" than customs and it actually motivates compliance.

Frontier Traffic Exemption only needs UK and EU to agree it. No WTO member likely to challenge arrangements designed to protect the Belfast Agreement. Special economic zones for cross-border areas could work too.

Loch Foyle as a free trade zone had "unanimous support" from the eight Irish and Northern Irish parties that the commission raised it with.

You can find a link to the report in this tweet.

https://twitter.com/GregHands/status/1178678273582272512?s=19

"Nobody has challenged the workability of these proposals", says @ShankerASingham. EU goal of no checks is not only too high but is not even status quo, as there are already cross-border checks in some areas.

"If you are relying on customs interventions to combat smuggling, you have already lost", he concludes. Key is intelligence.

Now Frank Dunsmuir of Fujitsu is explaining how the report is grounded in practical technology which exists today.

All these issues "are known at the negotiating table" says @GregHands. Don't need extra time to explore ideas, but do need more urgency in seeking agreement. May take time to implement, but not to agree.

Need to recognise political realities. Signing up to the backstop was a serious mistake by May, says @GregHands, but many Irish people consider the backstop is 'agreed'. He says it isn't, as the WA wasn't agreed, but need to give Dublin enough that it has space to compromise.

Government's shift of position on frictionless trade makes a deal much more realistic, says @ShankerASingham.

Technical solutions will give the authorities more data and intelligence to combat smuggling, says @SuellaBraverman, adding that smuggling exists already and the challenge has not been created by Brexit. @ShankerASingham says key is stacking up disincentives.

If Ireland won't put up a border in the event of No Deal they'd have to erect a border with the EU26, says @ShankerASingham. Prospect of that is opening Dublin up to a deal.

Most of the proposals only work in the event of a deal, adds @GregHands. Trusted trader schemes and enhanced economic zones need trust.

Leeway for negotiators to work out how to implement proposals, says @GregHands. Offers two versions of the plans.

Irish Govt refused to meet the Commission but have met backbenchers from many parties and proposals are well-received compared to a No Deal Brexit.

Belief that No Deal makes conversations in Ireland easier and thus a deal more likely, he adds. "Religious adherence to the backstop" is a path to No Deal.

That's all from our panel. Once again you can find the full @ProsperityUK_ report at their site: prosperity-uk.com