Who will really build the hard border?

While debating Brexit with SDLP MLA Claire Hanna on the Nolan Show, Mr Allister noted that the EU, UK, Republic and NI all said they did not want a hard border; he repeatedly asked, in vain, who would actually build it?

The threat of a hard border is the main justification for the EU’s proposed backstop, which aims to keep NI in the EU customs union after Brexit, but which unionists fear will weaken the union.

Asked by the News Letter, the EU did not explicitly say who might build a hard border. “A key point to bear in mind is that the land border on the island of Ireland is not simply a border between the UK and Ireland but a border between the UK and the rest of the EU and its Single Market,” it said. “As well as seeking to guarantee the avoidance of a hard border, all sides agree on that, the EU is seeking to protect the integrity of the Single Market.”

Addressing the same question, Ms Hanna said that if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, and trades with it instead on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, then keeping an open border would likely violate WTO principles and leave the UK open to litigation by any country which is subject to WTO tariffs. She added that “ultimately the EU will seek to take steps to protect the Single Market”.

But Mr Allister responded that the comments from both parties confirmed that it was only the EU that is threatening a hard border, which he branded “a hoax employed by Brussels” which would put the EU customs border in the Irish Sea, annexing NI from the UK.

If the EU chooses to impose the hard border, Dublin would be obliged to implement it on the ground, he said.

However, the EU could solve all the problems, he said. by granting Dublin “special status” to have tariff free trade with the UK, which is the Republic’s main trading partner, especially in the agri-food sector.

Asked by the News Letter to address the TUV assessment that it would be the EU who would choose to erect a hard border, with the Republic of Ireland rolling it out on the ground, an EU spokeswoman did not accept or reject the claim.

“The EU’s position is clear as set out in the agreed Withdrawal Agreement that, whatever the circumstances, there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland,” she said.