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News > United Kingdom

UK PM to Reveal Brexit Plan, Proposes All-Ireland Economic Zone

  • U.K.'s departure still scheduled for Oct. 31 but on Sept. 9 a law came into force demanding the PM to delay Brexit until 2020 unless he can make a deal is in place by Oct. 19.

    U.K.'s departure still scheduled for Oct. 31 but on Sept. 9 a law came into force demanding the PM to delay Brexit until 2020 unless he can make a deal is in place by Oct. 19. | Photo: Reuters

Published 30 September 2019
Opinion

The plan is expected to be based on the creation of an all-Ireland “economic zone.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will to disclose his final Brexit plan to the European Union as early as Tuesday, the U.K.'s Telegraph reported Monday.

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The report said that U.K. officials are believed to have finished the legal text that will be presented to Brussels after Johnson’s speech on Wednesday at the Conservative Party conference. While Senior government sources said much will depend on whether Angela Merkel “comes out fighting” for a compromise deal.

Yet the plan for possible end to the Irish-backstop is expected to be based on the creation of an all-Ireland “economic zone” which would allow agricultural and food products to move between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland without checks at the border, an issue that has been central to any Brexit deal.

Europe Editor for RTE news and current affairs Tony Connelly tweeted that Britain has proposed a number of “customs clearance centers” on both sides of the Irish border, which would be located between 5-10 miles back from the border.

This comes amid nervousness about the future of Ireland post-Brexit. In the event of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, then a border would have to be erected separated the Republic of Ireland from the British occupied Northern Ireland. This would be a violation of the Good Friday peace agreement that stipulated that there must be frictionless movement across all of Ireland, it was a key condition in getting Republican forces to lay down arms. 

If a deal can be agreed, it will be rushed through Parliament before the Oct. 31 deadline, with both the House of Commons and the House of Lords sitting through the night.

Johnson lost influence over Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc on Sept. 9 when a law came into force demanding he delays Brexit until 2020 unless he can make a deal is in place by Oct. 19.

It’s unclear what Johnson’s next move over Brexit will be as the law obliges him to seek a delay unless he can strike a new deal, however, the U.K. and the EU are struggling to reach a last-minute agreement before Britain's planned departure still scheduled to happen Oct. 31.

The British parliament has rejected three times the withdrawal deal agreed between the last government and the EU, deepening a three-year crisis that threatens Britain's status as one of the world's pre-eminent financial centers and a stable destination for foreign investors.

 

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