Letter Criticizing Irish Border Plans Exposes Rift Inside UK Government - Ex-Diplomat

LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) A leaked letter by UK international trade secretary Liz Truss to the ministers in charge of finance and the cabinet office, outlining concerns over the prime minister's plans for future customs controls in Northern Ireland, is likely a "warning sign" of government disunity, Ray Bassett, a former Irish ambassador to Canada, told Sputnik on Thursday.

"It's a real indicator that there's trouble inside the [UK] government. When people write those kinds of letters to each other and somebody leaks it it's clear there's differences there. Ministers shouldn't write to each other in stark terms. Clearly though Liz Truss feels she's not making progress at an official or political level so she's signalling that," he said.

Bassett suggested that either Truss was putting pressure on the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove "or the Chancellor and Gove are leaking it to erode trust in Truss, as it would be an unwelcome letter for most of the Conservative party."

"But it's a warning sign and a very clear sign that things are not progressing that well, just six months away from a major change," he added.

Truss' letter, dated July 8 and leaked to the business Insider website, details a number of concerns over how to manage the customs and trade situation in the north of Ireland in the event of failing to reach a trade deal with Brussels, including the possibility of World Trade Organisation (WTO) opposition and an erosion of the UK's reputation as a global trader.

She is believed to have specifically criticized the new "staged approach" to implementing checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the European Union from January to July 2021, believing it would leave the UK "vulnerable to WTO challenge," given the organization's rules on preferential treatment.

Bassett however expressed some doubt over whether the UK could find itself embroiled in a legal dispute with the WTO, particularly given that, in his opinion, the "staged approach" to implementing planned tariff regulations was evidently a temporary means to working around existing problems, rather than facilitating unfair advantage over potential competitors.

"I don't think they would run into troubles with the WTO as at the moment the WTO is very weak. I couldn't see the WTO wanting to have an argument on that. They'd probably be pressed for it by several members but what we're looking at really is an arrangement that's clearly designed to get over existing problems rather than put the squeeze on another country," he argued.

Bassett, the author of the upcoming book "Ireland and the EU Post-Brexit," also claimed that the Irish government had become increasingly "exasperated" over the situation, apparently being nervous over when and how the UK's Northern Ireland Protocol may be implemented.

"What the Truss letter actually confirms is that there's no uniform view in London and obviously people in Dublin are getting exasperated with a lack of clear direction," he said.

Dublin will now be very much aware of an alleged "lack of clear direction" on the part of the British government, the former ambassador added, particularly given the impossibility of the UK or EU securing an extension to the Brexit transition period past its termination date in December of this year.

"In Dublin the whole issue of Northern Ireland and the special arrangement is causing nervousness. It's a priority so there is nervousness given that, number one, the UK may not implement it and even if they do it would be done in a way that would be very difficult for the Irish government to live with," Bassett said.

The UK is set to finally exit EU trading and customs regulations on December 31. Uncertainty yet remains, given the limited progress made between London and Brussels in concluding a comprehensive trade deal, with both sides now appearing to be set on keeping the December deadline regardless of the eventual outcome of talks.