This is a subscriber-only article
The UK still needs to “iron out” future Northern Irish trade arrangements in relation to Brexit, according to Chancellor Michael Gove.
Speaking on a UK parliament video stream on the future relationship with the EU, he said that after Brexit the UK would be “outside the single market and outside the single union” and that this would mean new custom arrangements would be needed.
A previous Government figure of 50,000 additional customs officers was put forward but Chancellor Gove could not confirm what stage the recruitment drive for new officers was at.
Northern Ireland
On the subject of Northern Ireland (NI), Gove said the issue of trade arrangements post-Brexit still had to be ironed out by the various committees involved in negotiations.
“We are all committed to making sure the economy is as robust as possible within the principles of the Good Friday Agreement,” Gove said.
He acknowledged that the island of Ireland was currently treated as “one unit” for the purposes of products of animal origin and that there were intricacies in ensuring businesses continued to enjoy favourable trading arrangements.
Covid crisis
When asked if he thought the pandemic would delay the Brexit negotiations, he said in contrast that he thought the COVID-19 crisis would focus the minds of EU negotiators to bring the situation to a conclusion.
“We’re asking for a series of off-the-peg arrangements that the EU already has with other countries,” Gove said.
“There is no reason why they should not work in this case.”
He said he thought they had better than two-in-one chance of getting negotiations wrapped up by the deadline.
SHARING OPTIONS: