In the last few months, the issue of the Irish border has been used and abused by those who see it as the best last hope to frustrate Brexit. Yet very few of those who have expressed grave concern over the matter have spent much time familiarising themselves with the details. The issue is complicated but it is not insoluble.

The prophets of doom have been at work in London and Brussels. Anna Soubry has said the only way to avoid a hard border – and threats to the Good Friday Agreement – is for the UK to remain in the Customs Union. Michel Barnier has said ‘It’s important to tell the truth - a UK decision to leave the Single Market and Customs would make border checks unavoidable’.

So as pressure mounts today in Westminster to force the UK Government to stay within the Customs Union, the EU Commission and the Irish Government are working in tandem to support their Remainer allies in London, using the Irish border as their weapon. Using their December Joint Report on phase one issues, both the EU and Dublin are insisting that should all else fail, then Northern Ireland will be required to remain inside the EU Customs Union and the Single Market, detaching Northern Ireland economically from the rest of the United Kingdom and requiring a customs border in the Irish Sea. This is what the Irish Government is calling the ‘Backstop’ option.