On the need for checks in Northern Ireland. A quick (hopefully comprehensible, and not too simplistic) thread.
If it were possible for the UK to diverge from EU rules, and for UK products then to have unhindered access the EU markets... Brexit would be easy. 1/5
If it were possible for the UK to diverge from EU rules, and for UK products then to have unhindered access the EU markets... Brexit would be easy. 1/5
Unfortunately, it is not. If goods are made according to standards over which the EU does not have oversight, they will not be granted free access to the EU market. There is a need for checks. 2/5
Johnson's withdrawal agreement ensures that there will be no border checks on the Irish border. How does it do that? By ensuring that NI aligns with EU rules. This is the NI-only backstop (which, back in 2017, no UK Prime Minister could ever agree to...). 3/5
Under the withdrawal agreement, NI and GB are treated differently. GB, post-transition, is not committed to align with EU rules. But... products from GB entering NI *will* be subject to checks, if there is a risk that those products might enter the EU. 4/5
Essentially, if the UK, or parts of the UK, leave the single market, there simply has to be a border either across Ireland, or in the Irish Sea. The choices are stark. And they cannot be avoided or finessed.
See 5/5
See 5/5
