No technology solution exists or can alone solve the issue of preventing a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Britain leaves the EU, the British official who was in charge of Brexit border preparations said on Wednesday, reports Trend citing to Reuters.
Karen Wheeler, who left her role as Director General of Britain’s Cross Government Border Delivery Group last week, also said planning for a no-deal Brexit had felt like preparing for a crisis and even if the government was ready, it could not ensure the same for industry and businesses.
“When government says it’s as ready as it can be, it is mostly saying we’ve done everything that we can,” she said. “What it doesn’t mean is everything will be fine”.
Three years after Britons voted narrowly in a referendum to leave the European Union, Britain is still wrangling over how and when to leave.
Prime Minister Theresa May will leave her job later this month having failed three times to secure parliamentary backing for her EU withdrawal treaty.
The main sticking point was concerns over the Irish “backstop”, an insurance policy to prevent having border controls on the island of Ireland by tying the UK to EU rules until a new trade deal was agreed.
Eliminating a hard border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, and Ireland and providing frictionless trade was a crucial part of a 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of sectarian violence.
Former London mayor Boris Johnson and foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, who are vying to replace May, have said they can secure changes to the withdrawal deal to get rid of the backstop and say they are prepared to take Britain out of the bloc without a deal on Oct. 31 if necessary.
Both contenders have suggested that alternative arrangements, based on new technology, could provide a solution.
“I think we can find a solution on the island of Ireland that may well blaze a trail around the world for how invisible borders can actually work,” Hunt told Reuters on Tuesday.