New Brexit border row: Boris Johnson refuses EU’s request for their own ‘mini-embassy’ in Northern Ireland to carry out customs checks
- Checks will be made on some items entering the country from Britain next year
- Infrastructure will expand at ports and traders will fill in electronic declarations
- The Government called on Brussels to ‘respect the UK’s territorial integrity’
Boris Johnson was braced for a fresh Brexit border battle last night as he rejected a demand for the EU to have a permanent base in Belfast.
The Government confirmed yesterday there will be new checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain from the start of next year.
Traders will be asked to fill in electronic customs declarations and infrastructure will be expanded at Northern Irish ports to carry out checks on animal and food products.
Traders will be asked to fill in electronic customs declarations and infrastructure will be expanded at Northern Irish ports, pictured, to carry out checks on animal and food products
But in a document setting out their approach yesterday, ministers insisted it would be for UK border officials to conduct any checks and insisted they would not allow the EU to set up a ‘mini-embassy’ in Belfast to oversee them.
The Government called on Brussels to ‘respect the UK’s territorial integrity’ and warned that its demand to set up a permanent base in Northern Ireland would be ‘divisive’.
Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Michael Gove said: ‘It is for the UK Government to be responsible for the application and delivery of the (Northern Ireland) protocol.
‘We are one customs territory, we are one United Kingdom, and it is in that spirit that we have said to the EU that we do not think it is good for them to establish a new mission in Belfast – that would be seen by many in Northern Ireland as unnecessary and not in keeping with the [Good Friday] Agreement.’
The Government paper said businesses in Northern Ireland would enjoy ‘unfettered access’ to the rest of the UK as goods being exported eastwards across the Irish Sea would not face checks.
Ministers insisted checks on goods moving the other way from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will be kept to an ‘absolute minimum’ after the Brexit transition period ends.
Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Michael Gove, pictured, told MPs ministers would employ a principle of ‘keep it simple’, with any procedures having the ‘lightest possible touch’
Mr Gove told MPs they would employ a principle of ‘keep it simple’, with any procedures having the ‘lightest possible touch’.
Officials estimate spot checks would be performed on less than 1 per cent of goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
But Labour accused Mr Johnson of failing to keep a promise he made during the election campaign in December when he claimed: ‘There will be no checks on goods from GB to NI, or NI to GB’.
Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Louise Haigh said: ‘The Prime Minister has finally faced reality; his deal will mean additional checks and processes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
‘But seven months of denial and mixed messages from the very top have cost businesses the vital time they needed to prepare.’
Meanwhile, Michel Barnier last night hit out at the ‘tone’ of Mr Johnson’s Europe adviser David Frost.
The European Union’s lead negotiator said a ‘new dynamism’ was needed in talks if they are to avoid a ‘stalemate’.
He was responding to a letter from Mr Frost which was highly critical of the EU’s approach to the negotiations.