Brexit: Show us legal advice at the border with Ireland, says Gove


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Michael Gove

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The government faces calls to reveal legal advice on how a post-Brexit plan for the Northern Ireland border could work.

Secretary of the Environment, Michael Gove, wants cabinet ministers to know all the details of the so-called "backstop" that would prevent a hard border.

And the DUP of Northern Ireland – which supports the government in key votes – wants it to be published in full.

The border is the main obstacle to concluding an agreement on Brexit.

Both parties agreed to put in place a backstop, also called an insurance policy, that would only be triggered if a future trade agreement was not in place by the end of 2020 – or if this final agreement does not guarantee a frictionless border.

Indeed, it has been announced that the return of visible border controls could undermine the peace process in Northern Ireland and hurt companies operating on both sides.

What are we discussing?

One of the possible options is that the whole of the UK remains temporarily aligned with the EU customs union, thus avoiding the need for customs controls at the border.

BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said Mr Gove was concerned that under the agreement, Northern Ireland would be forced to continue to respect EU rules while the rest of the UK would just imitate them.

He wants to consult all the legal opinions, fearing that cabinet members will see a summary before having to decide whether or not to support an agreement with Brussels.

The DUP – whose votes rely on Theresa May to win key votes in the House of Commons – went further, saying that legal advice should be made public.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, chief whip of the DUP, told BBC Radio 4's Today program: "I think it is in the public interest to fully understand what is going on here.

"This is because it concerns the whole of the UK Therefore, it should not be only the DUP that sees this opinion, nor the government.

"If the House of Commons is to make a meaningful vote on an agreement that includes and is very important to this legal advice, then I think people have a right to know what that advice is."

Downing Street said that he was not commenting on legal advice.

"It's not the job's duty" to support the Prime Minister

If an agreement is reached with the EU, deputies will be invited to approve it at a crucial vote in the House of Commons before Brexit on March 29th.

The votes of the workers could be essential to the hopes of the government.

Sir Keir Starmer, Brexit shadow secretary, said that the opposition was not "held" to support Ms. May's agreement.

"We can not wait, with a weapon in our head, to support the Prime Minister with whatever he comes back," he told the Today program.

Sir Keir, who talks with European personalities in Brussels, insisted that the Labor Party could persuade the EU to support the Brexit project to create a customs union with the freedom of the United Kingdom. in terms of trade and immigration agreements.

In response, conservatives said the Labor Party "would bring the country back to square one" at Brexit.

A plan to sell the case?

Ministers met on Tuesday at Downing Street, where they agreed to reach an agreement with the EU by the end of the month.

The EU said it would convene a special summit to agree on an agreement only if progress in the negotiations is sufficient.

The government will have to convince critics of the Conservative Party and other parties to support any agreement reached.

  • In full: The notes of a plan to sell the agreement on Brexit

And on Tuesday, leaked notes showed how this could be presented. The proposals included keynote speeches by Theresa May and interventions by pro-business and foreign leaders.

One of the people mentioned, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, told the Today program that it was "news for me".

The government rejected the notes, stating: "The misspelled and childish language of this document should be enough to make it clear that it does not represent the government's thinking."

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