Shropshire Star

No deal means border checks, PM tells Paterson

The Prime Minister has told North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson that leaving the EU could result in border checks being imposed in Ireland

Published
Owen Paterson

Theresa May told Mr Paterson, a former secretary of state for Northern Ireland, that his proposals to solve the problem by electronic means did not address all the issues.

Mr Paterson, who has said he will be voting against the Government's EU withdrawal agreement tonight, questioned the need for the so-called 'backstop' arrangement to avoid border checks on the border.

During a debate in the Commons last night, he told Theresa May he was 'exasperated' by the proposals, which would put Northern Ireland in a customs union with the EU if a solution to cross-border checks could not be found.

"The British Government, the Irish Government, and the EU has said there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic," he said.

"Today the border works perfectly satisfactorily by electronic means. It is extraordinary and exasperating that we are still stuck on the question of the backstop when the Prime Minister met technical experts who know that existing techniques could deliver a smooth delivery of that border.

"What meetings have been held since she met those experts prior to pulling the vote in December?"

Mrs May replied that she was committed to looking at the sort of technical processes which he had suggested.

"I said to my right honourable friend when he brought his proposals to me, that his proposals didn't fully address the issues about the border between Ireland and the Republic of Ireland," she said.

"We will continue to look, with the EU, at the ways in which we can ensure those alternative arrangements will deal with the issue we are addressing."

Mrs May added that it was not true that the EU had ruled out a hard border across Ireland. She said it had made it clear that in the event of a 'no deal' Brexit, the Irish Government would be expected to carry out EU border checks on the border with Northern Ireland.