Philip Hammond: Sea border between Britain and Ireland ‘not acceptable’
3 min read
Philip Hammond has said a sea border between Great Britain and Ireland would not be an acceptable post-Brexit arrangement.
The Chancellor’s comments come after Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney told EU ministers that any physical border with Northern Ireland would disrupt the peace process.
Mr Coveney said Dublin did “not want to pretend” that a land border was workable – and he ruled out technical solutions like cameras and pre-registration.
He added: “Any barrier or border on the island of Ireland in my view risks undermining a very hard-won peace process and all of the parties in Northern Ireland, whether they are unionist or nationalist, recognise that we want to keep the free movement of people and goods and services and livelihoods.”
But Mr Hammond said while British, Irish and European politicians shared the ambition of finding a solution, a border between UK territories would not be acceptable.
“We all share an ambition; the Irish government, the British government and indeed the European Union all share an ambition that we do not reinstate any kind of hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland,” he told Sky News.
“That’s a very high priority to us because the peace process in Ireland is extremely important to us. But the answer to how to deliver that cannot be to create a border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
“That would not be a solution that would be acceptable to us, or indeed to the people of Northern Ireland.”
The issue could prove a major setback to Brexit talks, with EU negotiators vowing not to progress with talks until the Irish border question was settled.
The claims from Dublin have also angered senior DUP figures, with Jeffrey Donaldson blasting the Irish position as “absurd”, while Ian Paisley Jr said the only people discussing a sea border were “people who should know better”.
Mr Donaldson – whose party are currently in agreement to prop up the minority Tory administration – ruled out the suggestion.
“[Ireland] has a market of 60 million on its doorstep. Is it really going to turn its back and put a border down the middle of the Irish Sea? Of its most successful market?,” he told the Today programme.
“There is no way that the DUP would go for an option that creates a border between one part of the United Kingdom and the other. Dublin really needs to understand that that proposition is absurd.”
The Times has reported comments from a Whitehall source saying that the Dublin government’s approach to the border issue has hardened since newly appointed Taoiseach Leo Varadkar took up the post last month.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
