In the Northern Ireland of today, where a seamless border enables unprecedented levels of trade and cooperation north and south, any form of infrastructure at the border is an alien concept.
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The practical consequences for people’s day-to-day lives are only part of the story.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/5561.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/5561.html
Because the seamless border is a foundation stone on which the Belfast Agreement rests, allowing for the ‘just and equal treatment for the identity, ethos and aspirations of both communities’.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/5561.html
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Anything that undermines that is a breach of the spirit of the Belfast Agreement.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/5561.html
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An agreement which we have committed to protect in all its parts and the EU says it will respect.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/5561.html
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Both sides in the negotiation understand that and share a determination never to see a hard border in Northern Ireland.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/5561.html
And no technology solution to address these issues has been designed yet, or implemented anywhere in the world, let alone in such a unique and highly sensitive context as the Northern Ireland border.
Some argue that the right approach is for the UK to declare that we will not impose any checks at the border after we have left.
If the EU required the Irish Government to introduce checks, the blame would lie with them.
As I said at Mansion House, this is wrong on two levels.
First, this issue arises because of a decision we have taken.
We can’t solve it on our own, but nor can we wash our hands of any responsibility for it.
So we must work together to solve it. Second, like any country sharing a land border with another nation, we have a duty to seek customs and regulatory relationships with each other to ensure borders work smoothly.
And in Northern Ireland, that presents a particular challenge.
The protection of the peace process and upholding our binding commitments in the Belfast Agreement are grave responsibilities.
Not to seek a solution would be to resume our career as an independent sovereign trading nation by betraying commitments to part of our nation and to our nearest neighbour.
The reality is that any agreement we reach with the EU will have to provide for the frictionless movement of goods across the Northern Ireland border.
Equally clear is that as a United Kingdom government, we could never accept that the way to prevent a hard border with Ireland is to create a new border within the United Kingdom.
To do so would also be a breach of the spirit of the Belfast Agreement, and for exactly the same reason that a hard border would be.
It would not be showing ‘parity of esteem’ and ‘just and equal treatment for the identity, ethos and aspirations’ of the Unionist community in Northern Ireland to cut their part of the United Kingdom off from the rest of the UK.
I do not think any member state would be willing to accept that, in order to leave the EU, a nation must accept such a threat to its constitutional integrity.
We made the choice to join as nation states.
We must be free as nation states to make the choice to leave.
The Joint Report that we agreed in December was very clear on this.
We were both explicit that Northern Ireland is an integral part of the United Kingdom, consistent with the principle of consent in the Belfast Agreement.
And the report is also clear about the need to preserve the integrity of the UK’s internal market, which is vital to businesses the length and breadth of our country – not least here in Northern Ireland.
Yet the Commission’s proposed ‘backstop’ text does not deliver this.
Under their proposal, Northern Ireland would be represented in trade negotiations and in the World Trade Organisation on tariffs by the European Commission, not its own national government.
The economic and constitutional dislocation of a formal ‘third country’ customs border within our own country is something I will never accept and I believe no British Prime Minister could ever accept.
And as MPs made clear this week, it is not something the House of Commons will accept either.
We remain absolutely committed to including a legally operative backstop in the Withdrawal Agreement.
But it must be one that delivers on all the commitments made in the December Joint Report.
Those two imperatives, to see no hard border between the UK and Ireland, and no new border that cuts Northern Ireland off from the rest of the UK, are realities we have to contend with as we find a way forward.
Doing so means we must rule out the free-trade deal on offer from the EU that excludes Northern Ireland, and creates a border within the UK.
The other alternative, membership of the Customs Union plus an extended version of the EEA, would mean continued free movement, ongoing vast annual payments and total alignment with EU rules across the whole of our economy, and no control of our trade policy.
That would not be consistent with the referendum result.
In order to move the negotiations on our future relationship forward, we needed to put a credible third option on the table.
To work for the UK, it needs to honour the Belfast Agreement, deliver on the referendum result and be good for our economy.
And for the EU to consider it, it needs to be a proposal that they can see works for them as well as us.
I believe that the White Paper we published last week, following the agreement reached at Chequers, is that proposal.
It is firmly rooted in the vision for our future relationship that I set out in my speeches at Lancaster House, Florence, Munich and Mansion House.
But it also addresses the questions that the EU has raised in the intervening months and explains how the new relationship would work.
It is a principled and practical Brexit that respects both the constitutional and economic integrity of the UK and the autonomy of the EU.
It also comprehensively addresses our shared commitments to Northern Ireland and Ireland.
It is the right Brexit deal for the United Kingdom.
It delivers on the referendum result.
It takes back control of our borders, with an end to free movement.
It takes back control of our money, with no more vast annual sums paid to the EU.
It takes back control of our laws, ending the jurisdiction of the ECJ in the United Kingdom.
It promotes jobs and prosperity.
The whole of the UK will be outside the Customs Union and Single Market, free to sign trade deals with countries around the world.
We will have regulatory freedom over our services sector, which accounts for 80% of the UK economy.
And we will leave the Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy, gaining the freedom to design new policies that work for our rural and coastal communities.
It will also protect and strengthen our Union by ensuring there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland and no border in the UK.
It does that by proposing a free trade area in goods and agricultural products between the UK and the EU.
Our previous proposal that we could achieve frictionless trade by maintaining ‘substantially similar’ regulatory standards did not prove to be a negotiable position.
The EU would not accept such an unprecedented solution to break down all barriers without having shared rules.
So we needed to make a stronger commitment.
That is why we have put the new offer of a common rulebook in goods and agricultural products on the table.
Some people are concerned about us maintaining common standards with the EU even in this limited area.
I understand that concern, but I think it is in the national interest in a way that it wouldn’t be for say financial services.
Let me explain.
First, the rules that cover goods have been relatively stable over the last 30 years.
Second, many of the relevant standards are set by international bodies which we will remain a member of after we leave the EU.
Third, the many UK businesses that trade with the single market will continue to meet these rules anyway whether or not the government makes a promise to.
Making a formal commitment allows us to establish a free-trade area that will be good for our whole economy.
It will deliver friction-free trade in goods with our nearest trading partners in the EU.
Businesses will be able to import and export goods across the EU frontier without impediment.
The just-in-time supply chains that underpin high skilled manufacturing jobs across the country will be able to continue without disruption.
And it will ensure we remain one United Kingdom, with a UK internal market, on good terms with our nearest neighbour.
The Belfast Agreement will be protected in full.
Not just by avoiding a hard border but by a legal guarantee that there will be no diminution of the rights for citizens set out in the Agreement.
By upholding the Common Travel Area and associated rights, so there is no question of any new restrictions on movement between the UK and Ireland or access to public services.
And by guaranteeing the protection in full of the range of North-South and East-West co-operation provided for in Strands 2 and 3 of the Agreement.
This is the right deal for the United Kingdom and I believe it is the basis for a new deep and strong relationship with the EU.
The White Paper represents a significant development of our position.
It is a coherent package.
Early in this process, both sides agreed a clear desire to find solutions to the unique circumstances in Northern Ireland through a close future relationship.
We have now developed our proposals and put an approach on the table which does precisely that.
It is now for the EU to respond.
Not simply to fall back onto previous positions which have already been proven unworkable.
But to evolve their position in kind.
And, on that basis, I look forward to resuming constructive discussions.
I firmly believe that we can complete what we have started.
We can negotiate a new relationship with the EU that works in our mutual interest.
One that honours the referendum result, gives us control of our money, our borders, and our laws.
One that sets us on course for a prosperous future, protecting jobs and boosting prosperity.
One that safeguards our Union and allows the whole UK to thrive in the years ahead.
A brighter future for Northern Ireland – where we restore devolution and come together again as a community to serve the interests of the people.
And a brighter future for us all, where we put aside past divisions and work as one to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities that lie ahead.
I am passionate about that brighter future and the possibilities that are within our grasp.
As I said on the day I launched my campaign to become leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party:
‘the process of withdrawal will be complex, and it will require hard work, serious work, and detailed work.’
The government has done that work.
The White Paper is our plan for the future.
It is the way to the stronger and brighter tomorrow that I know awaits the whole United Kingdom.
Now, we must have the courage and the determination to seize it.
Thank you.
