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Technological solution to Irish border issue could be a decade away, says Home Office document
The possibility of a technological solution to the Brexit Northern Ireland border issue could be more than a decade away, according to a Home Office document seen by Sky News.
A presentation drawn up by the Home Secretary's Policy Unit and sent to HMRC and the Treasury implies that they think a technological solution - which would aim to keep the Irish border entirely open and without physical checkpoints - is a distant (and likely very expensive) prospect.
The authors state that the technology would likely not be ready to be deployed in the UK until 2030.
A technological solution to the Irish border quagmire has been much trumpeted by Brexiteers for months, if not years.
It has been at the centre of Tory efforts to find an alternative to the much hated "Irish backstop", which would involve a basic customs union for the whole of the UK with the EU and Northern Ireland moving closer to EU regulations on goods.
That would keep the border open but at a cost, its detractors say, of diluting Brexit and keeping Britain in a trading regime against its will.
The report does come up with a solution, albeit a highly complicated one.
It involves companies uploading data into a digital portal, using new blockchain technology, sensors and "Internet of things technology" along the route, "machine learning" and automated revenue collection.
"If all these technologies are brought together this could allow a seamless collection and analysis of the data needed," the presentation says. "It would also provide the ability to target interventions away from the border itself."
However, the presentation's authors acknowledge that the practical execution of such technology would be far from seamless.
They say that "no government worldwide currently controls different customs arrangements with no physical infrastructure at the border."
They believe that "technology does already exist that could be used at the border to the desired effect" but also highlights five grave practical problems in terms of actually deploying it. They are:
:: The system "must operate with 28 government agencies and a myriad of interconnected existing and planned IT systems".
:: "There is currently no budget for either a pilot or the programme itself. And it will be expensive."
:: "The suite of technology would need to operate on both sides of the border, as such it would require agreement and commitment from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the EU too."
:: "It is a big and complex project, with possibly tight deadlines. Government does not have the strongest track record on delivery of large tech projects."
:: And crucially - "Current realisation for a similar technological solution in the UK is 2030."
The possibility of a technological solution to the Brexit Northern Ireland border issue could be more than a decade away, according to a Home Office document seen by Sky News.
A presentation drawn up by the Home Secretary's Policy Unit and sent to HMRC and the Treasury implies that they think a technological solution - which would aim to keep the Irish border entirely open and without physical checkpoints - is a distant (and likely very expensive) prospect.
The authors state that the technology would likely not be ready to be deployed in the UK until 2030.
A technological solution to the Irish border quagmire has been much trumpeted by Brexiteers for months, if not years.
It has been at the centre of Tory efforts to find an alternative to the much hated "Irish backstop", which would involve a basic customs union for the whole of the UK with the EU and Northern Ireland moving closer to EU regulations on goods.
That would keep the border open but at a cost, its detractors say, of diluting Brexit and keeping Britain in a trading regime against its will.
The report does come up with a solution, albeit a highly complicated one.
It involves companies uploading data into a digital portal, using new blockchain technology, sensors and "Internet of things technology" along the route, "machine learning" and automated revenue collection.
"If all these technologies are brought together this could allow a seamless collection and analysis of the data needed," the presentation says. "It would also provide the ability to target interventions away from the border itself."
However, the presentation's authors acknowledge that the practical execution of such technology would be far from seamless.
They say that "no government worldwide currently controls different customs arrangements with no physical infrastructure at the border."
They believe that "technology does already exist that could be used at the border to the desired effect" but also highlights five grave practical problems in terms of actually deploying it. They are:
:: The system "must operate with 28 government agencies and a myriad of interconnected existing and planned IT systems".
:: "There is currently no budget for either a pilot or the programme itself. And it will be expensive."
:: "The suite of technology would need to operate on both sides of the border, as such it would require agreement and commitment from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the EU too."
:: "It is a big and complex project, with possibly tight deadlines. Government does not have the strongest track record on delivery of large tech projects."
:: And crucially - "Current realisation for a similar technological solution in the UK is 2030."
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Given those constraints, the prospect of any imminent rollout (if ever) seems remote.
The last point, on timescale, is especially significant given that should the prime minister's withdrawal agreement pass, the government would only have until December 2020 to devise arrangements to keep the border open and without checkpoints, otherwise the UK would fall into the backstop regime.
It seems likely that if it is passed that is what will happen.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid, likely with this report in mind, said in February: "In terms of an alternative arrangements it can be done.
"In my own department I've got Border Force. I asked Border Force months ago to advise me what alternative arrangements are possible and they've shown me quite clearly that you can have no hard border on the island of Ireland and you can use existing technology the only thing missing is a bit of goodwill."
The technology might exist but as this presentation clearly says it will take much more than goodwill for any tech solutions to solve anything on the Irish border.
The last point, on timescale, is especially significant given that should the prime minister's withdrawal agreement pass, the government would only have until December 2020 to devise arrangements to keep the border open and without checkpoints, otherwise the UK would fall into the backstop regime.
It seems likely that if it is passed that is what will happen.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid, likely with this report in mind, said in February: "In terms of an alternative arrangements it can be done.
"In my own department I've got Border Force. I asked Border Force months ago to advise me what alternative arrangements are possible and they've shown me quite clearly that you can have no hard border on the island of Ireland and you can use existing technology the only thing missing is a bit of goodwill."
The technology might exist but as this presentation clearly says it will take much more than goodwill for any tech solutions to solve anything on the Irish border.
How the backstop is presented has the biggest con of the lot. It's pretty obvious that the backstop as is will basically lead to a permanent customs union and regulatory alignment it's just not presented that way as it goes against what May said.
I laugh when I hear the ERG cavers who caved in last time say how they wouldn't vote for a deal with a customs union if that comes back from the deal with Labour, yet they are literally already doing that. I'd long been saying this anyway, but I noticed a few weeks ago Ken Clarke on Politics Live admitted as such and said it's basically written as it is to try and draw Tory votes, the reality is you will end up in a permanent customs union anyway.
I laugh when I hear the ERG cavers who caved in last time say how they wouldn't vote for a deal with a customs union if that comes back from the deal with Labour, yet they are literally already doing that. I'd long been saying this anyway, but I noticed a few weeks ago Ken Clarke on Politics Live admitted as such and said it's basically written as it is to try and draw Tory votes, the reality is you will end up in a permanent customs union anyway.
All this ould fanni,"Take back control","leave means leave,when the only one that mattered was "No backstop,no brexit".
With the UK,Ireland and America guaranteeing no border how in Gods name was it overlooked? Ineptitude off the scale.
With the UK,Ireland and America guaranteeing no border how in Gods name was it overlooked? Ineptitude off the scale.
Apr 19, 2019 -- 2:19PM, eric_morris wrote:
Load of b oll ocks the tech is here now.
Yes, it’s rammed up the unicorns’ bottoms.
The most powerful US Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, visited the border and delivered a stark message. If the UK's manner of leaving the EU damages the Good Friday Agreement then forget about a US-UK trade deal.
Chickens coming home to roost for Leavers, as they realise what a mess they have made of it.
Chickens coming home to roost for Leavers, as they realise what a mess they have made of it.
Whilst she was there God knows what stark message she delivered to the IRA. Whatever it was, riots in Londondeŕry and the murder of a young journalist followed. So much for the sacred Good Friday agreement. As with all the other pacts, treaties and agreements entered into by UK... they all seems very one sided. We bend over backwards and the other side takes the p1ss.
Hard to distinguish the para-military thug from the border smuggler; and Brexit is set to multiply the potential rewards for criminal operations at the border. Petrol on the barbecue. Nice work, Leavers.
Technology exists to put men on the moon, send probes to the far reaches of our galaxy, plumb the depths of our oceans, monitor the millions of traffic movements on the motorways each day and automatically issue speeding tickets, when necessary... take in, sort, search, divert and transport hundreds of millions of baggage items, world-wide, which pass through our airports each year. But, sort out a couple of thousand lorry movements over the Irish border each month????
Can't be done, mammoth task, insurmountable obstacles etc, etc.
Don't make me laugh... oh, go on then
Can't be done, mammoth task, insurmountable obstacles etc, etc.
Don't make me laugh... oh, go on then
The border is about political and psychological eggshells and then you have the extremes on each side that want to stamp on those eggshells. Probably need to get the Northern Ireland assembly up and running and they might be able to give some input on how to proceed.
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