- The Foreign Secretary said there was ‘no need’ for a return to a hard Irish border
- However, suggestion of some form of controls post-Brexit could provoke a row
It will be possible to have ‘very, very minimal controls’ on the border of Northern Ireland, Boris Johnson declared last night.
The Foreign Secretary said there was ‘no need’ for a return to a hard Irish border.
However, his suggestion of some form of controls post-Brexit could provoke a row.
Lack of control: The Foreign Secretary (pictured in on a visit to St Leonard’s C of E Primary school in Hastings yesterday) said there was ‘no need’ for a return to a hard Irish border
Last summer, the Government said there should be no physical infrastructure, such as customs posts, at the border, which has almost 300 crossing points.
In a position paper, ministers said they did not envisage CCTV cameras or number-plate recognition technology around the border.
Mr Johnson said the issue ‘has understandably a great deal of political, emotional charge’ and it was ‘all too forgivable for politicians to wish to be absolutely certain about how things will work’.
European Council president Donald Tusk yesterday warned that EU negotiations could grind to a halt if UK proposals to prevent a hard border are not put forward within weeks.
Mr Johnson said the issue ‘has understandably a great deal of political, emotional charge’ and it was ‘all too forgivable for politicians to wish to be absolutely certain about how things will work’. He is pictured in Whitehall on March 1