It will “take a decade” to resolve the crisis inflicted on Ireland by Brexit and the border checks created in the Irish Sea, David Davis has suggested.
The warning came as the former Brexit secretary blamed “Remainers” in Theresa May’s administration for the weak negotiating position the UK found itself in after the 2016 referendum.
Mr Davis also conceded that the promised benefits of Brexit put forward by the Leave campaign have yet to materialise, while insisting: “It’s largely recoverable.”
But, amid the fresh crisis over the Northern Ireland Protocol, he said: “Ireland’s going to take a long time. It’s going to take a decade to get right, I think. Maybe I’m wrong about a decade, but it’s going to take years.”
The Tory veteran claimed neither side of the Brexit campaign foresaw the Irish crisis, telling the Politico website: “I think that’s a fair criticism of the overall debate.”
However, both Tony Blair and John Major warned of the threat to the peace process from having to create a trade border, if the UK left the EU single market and customs union.
In contrast, Boris Johnson infamously claimed the challenge was no greater than crossing the boundaries of different boroughs in London.
He also insisted there would be no Irish Sea border checks as a result of the withdrawal agreement he reached – although a leaked Treasury analysis made clear they were inevitable.
On the 2017 negotiations he led, Mr Davis said: “I was shut out, basically. No. 10 was running a parallel policy. They’re all Remainers – you’d expect it.
“They took the view that being ultra-reasonable would deliver the result and it didn’t. I’m not saying that somehow she was some sort of traitor to the cause, she wasn’t. It’s a mindset.”
The UK and the EU are heading for a legal battle over London’s new legislation to collapse the Protocol, which Brussels has declared “illegal”.
Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator, condemned a breach of international law that is “extremely damaging to mutual trust and respect between the EU and the UK”.
The Commission has begun three infringement proceedings against the UK for failing to implement the Protocol, concerning the suspension of food checks, staffing levels at border inspection posts and a failure to share customs data.
But, to keep the “door open” to talks, Sefcovic has delayed the nuclear option of legal action over the breach of international law until the legislation is enacted.
That is unlikely for another year, with the House of Lords likely to block it, creating a 12-month delay because the legislation was not in the Conservative election manifesto.
