A “backstop” option keeping the UK aligned with the EU’s Customs Union after Brexit represents the bottom line to safeguard stability, pro-Remain parties in Northern Ireland have said in a rare joint statement.
The proposal was drawn up to avoid a hard Irish border if the EU and UK cannot agree a deal before next year’s withdrawal.
The backstop would mean the UK matching EU customs duties to avoid checks on goods passing between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
A joint statement by Sinn Fein and several smaller parties opposed to Brexit said: “The political parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly wish to reaffirm our common position that we cannot withstand exclusion from the single market or customs union.
“That the protection of the Good Friday Agreement in all of its parts, including North/South and East/West co-operation is critical to maintaining relationships within, and between these islands.
“That the backstop agreed by both the British Government and the EU27 is the bottom line in order to safeguard our political and economic stability now and for the future.”
The main unionist parties, including the DUP whose 10 pro-Brexit MPs are propping up Theresa May’s Government, did not sign the declaration.
Mrs May’s favoured option is a customs partnership whereby the UK would collect tariffs set by the EU customs union on goods coming into the UK.
She faces serious opposition from Brexiteer members of her own Government who back a model relying on technology and advance customs checks to minimise impediments at the frontier.
The EU has expressed doubts about both options.
The Northern Ireland political parties’ statement added: “Sinn Fein, Green Party (cross-community), Alliance (cross-community) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party all share the common position that we should stay within both the single market and customs union and that there should be no hard border on the island of Ireland or between the two islands.
“This is critical to protecting investment, jobs, trade and the hard-won peace.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here