Opinion

Border buffer zone plan is a non-starter

We have heard some strange ideas put forward on resolving the Irish border conundrum after Britain leaves the EU but the latest proposal from David Davis is surely the most bizarre yet.

According to The Sun, the Brexit secretary is ready to drop his support for technological solutions after the PSNI warned cameras would be targeted for attack and is now suggesting a new plan based on the model in place in Liechtenstein which would allow both UK and EU regulations to operate in Northern Ireland at the same time.

This plan, we are told, would involve a ten-mile wide 'buffer zone' along the border within which local businesses could operate under the Republic's trade rules.

Not surprisingly, this idea has been greeted with widespread derision with terms such as 'bonkers', 'daft' and 'fantastical' being used to describe the scheme.

Even without any detail on how it would operate in practice it is clear a ten-mile zone would create more problems than it would solve.

For instance, while the focus of the plan seems to be aimed at farmers who criss-cross the border every day, the proposed economic zone would also include towns and cities such as Derry, Newry and Strabane.

What are the implications for these key commercial centres within this zone?

And what happens at the ten-mile limit of the zone, which is likely to become a second border? Will there be checks and controls at this point?

Indeed, this scheme raises more questions than answers and the fact that it is even being put forward for consideration at this stage of negotiations is a sign of desperation on the part of the Brexit secretary and the British government.

It may also be an indication of the pressure being applied to Theresa May by leading Brexiteers, who are determined to leave the EU at all costs and have shown little real interest in the consequences for people living on this island.

And while the DUP and Sinn Féin take radically different positions on the border question, they at least appear to agree that this latest idea is a non-runner.

If it is a serious proposal then it shows that the British cabinet is as far away as ever from sorting out the intractable problem of the post-Brexit border.

However, with a summit of EU leaders due to take place on June 28, time is running out for the British government to come up with a realistic and workable proposal that ensures there is no hard border and is acceptable to all sides.