‘Not impossible!’ David Davis says there are alternatives for Irish border after Brexit
DAVID Davis has said alternatives to maintaining a "relatively invisible border" between Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit would be "expensive but not impossible".
David Davis: Our aim is to obtain a free trade deal with the EU
The Brexit Secretary was challenged in the Commons to explain what the UK Government proposes to do given its existing ideas failed to persuade the Republic of Ireland government during negotiations.
Mr Davis, responding to Labour's Hilary Benn, said: "The circumstance at the moment we face is that there are a range of permutations and possibilities depending on what the outcome is with respect to a free trade agreement and a customs agreement.
"If the Government achieves its primary policy of having a tariff-free, barrier-free free trade agreement, then a customs agreement following on from that will be a very light-touch customs agreement - in which case it would be relatively straightforward to maintain a relatively invisible border.
I suspect the alternatives would be expensive but not impossible
"If that is not the case, I suspect the alternatives would be expensive but not impossible."
Mr Benn, chairman of the Exiting the EU Select Committee, had said: "It is becoming increasingly clear there's a contradiction between, on the one hand the Government's clearly stated desire that there should be no return to a hard border, no customs border, and its determination to leave the customs union and the single market."
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer earlier said he recognised "some of the difficulties" with the position on Northern Ireland.
He added: "The political situation in Northern Ireland is fragile, the peace process is too precious to put at risk by rushing a Brexit deal that doesn't have the support of all communities.
"There must be no return to a hard border, Northern Ireland should not be used by either side in negotiations for political point scoring."