A no-deal Brexit could trigger a border poll in Northern Ireland and undermine the integrity of the United Kingdom, a British treasury minister has said.
Mel Stride said that leaving without a deal would inevitably lead to a hard Border because of the European Union's determination to protect its single market.
“We are not going to impose a hard border, but the EU will presumably be insisting that the Irish Government goes in that direction, otherwise they damage the integrity of the single market,” he told The House magazine.
“So it’s hard to see how that doesn’t end in a very difficult situation, which I think in turn would have knock-on potential consequences for the integrity of the United Kingdom – border polls and that kind of issue, and read-across to Scotland too. So a no-deal is not just about the economy but also about the United Kingdom as a whole, so we should so our very best to avoid it.”
Mr Stride’s warning came as a group of leading Conservative backbenchers tabled an amendment demanding that the Northern Ireland backstop should be replaced “with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard Border”.
Amendment
Theresa May’s government is expected to accept the amendment to a motion on Brexit MPs will debate next Tuesday, hoping that hardline Brexiteers and the DUP will also support it.
DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the backstop remained the main obstacle to backing the prime minister's Brexit deal, and he claimed there were signs that the EU was willing to compromise.
"Whether it is the Lithuanian, Polish or indeed the EU Commission's chief spokesman, there have been several signals that people are prepared to look at other options. That is positive as it shows people are starting to be more realistic. We continue to work with our government in an effort to reach a better deal which can command support in the House of Commons but also importantly in Brussels too," he said.
“The trap of the backstop is the problem. There are ways forward which do not require this backstop and we need to see a willingness to explore such options.”
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom said the prime minister would be able to secure a majority for her deal if the EU agreed to change the backstop. She said that MPs objected to the EU keeping Britain in an indefinite backstop that it could not exit unilaterally.
‘In denial’
“The EU need to be listening very carefully to that. They are slightly in denial saying that that is not the issue. It very much is the issue. So I am hoping the European commissioners will look very closely at the backstop and think of a way through this, because the legal default is that we leave the EU on March 29th without a deal unless we can agree a deal,” she told BBC’s Newsnight.
Chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond said the EU would not abandon its fundamental position in favour of the backstop, but he believed EU leaders understood that it was unreasonable to expect Britain to accept a permanent backstop.
Mr Hammond acknowledged that some of his colleagues in government wanted to vote for amendments that would rule out a no-deal Brexit or seek an extension to the article-50 negotiating deadline.
