Brexit Negotiations

Philip Dunne Excerpts

Thursday 3rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I should remind the hon. Gentleman that there has been a fiscal border between the UK and Ireland for many years. Customs checks do not mean customs posts or infrastructure of any kind, as I am sure he appreciates, but if he does not, I am more than happy to share with him our thinking and to explain how it can be done.

[Mr Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)]

I remind my right hon. Friend that I voted remain in the referendum. I have voted in the House to deliver Brexit ever since. I congratulate him on the constructive proposals that he has put forward, and wish him every good fortune that the EU will engage with them as it needs to. I remind the House, and perhaps he could confirm, that existing trade across the border in Northern Ireland takes place with different currencies, and with different VAT rates, as he has just been elucidating, without the need for any physical infrastructure; and customs arrangements, following the excellent work done on the alternative arrangements commission, can do the same.

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. Friend, and if I may say so, I think he speaks with the voice of common sense and pragmatic understanding of the realities that obtain, but also the right measure of optimism about what we can achieve. I thank him very much.