Brexit Negotiations

Debate between Boris Johnson and Chuka Umunna

Thursday 3rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Chuka Umunna (Streatham) (LD)]

The Prime Minister has denied on multiple occasions during this session that what he is proposing involves physical customs checks, but he has just said in his statement—on page three—in relation to the new protocol and customs checks, that there will be a

“number of cases where physical checks would be necessary”.

Is he denying that he said that? Secondly, he refers to the political declaration, but it is a declaration of aspiration with no legal force. Is it not the case that the free trade agreement to which he refers will take at least three years to negotiate? Nothing will be done by this at all.

[The Prime Minister]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, there already are some checks for epidemiological purposes between GB and NI. If there are to be new checks down the Irish sea, they will be de minimis. They will not be on the GB side, and they will be done by UK officials. And, no, there will be no new border posts or borders; there will be de minimis checks. Whatever checks there may be will be done by consent and introduced only by consent. There will certainly be no checks on the GB side, because we say that this is entirely dependent on whether the EU wants them.

On the hon. Gentleman’s second point about the political declaration, let me say that that will chart a way forward for the UK-EU relationship, which will be ambitious and positive and allow us to build a new partnership. I hope that he will find that invigorating and that he will support it.