Can Boris Johnson’s border plan break the Brexit deadlock? Under the UK plan, Northern Ireland would remain in the EU single market for goods after Brexit but in the UK customs territory. This arrangement, intended to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, would depend on the Northern Ireland assembly voting for it, and continuing to vote for it every four years. On Friday Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland secretary, was told by some of the non-DUP parties in Northern Ireland that what was being proposed was a non-starter. Asked if the government was willing to compromise further on customs, Barclay said: “We’ve set out a broad landing zone.

Source: The Guardian October 06, 2019 11:48 UTC