Former Brexit secretary David Davis has claimed that the Euro and the Pound can both be spent on either side of the border while claiming that the border issue is 'exaggerated'.

The Conservative Party MP who claimed to be “reasonably familiar with the Irish border over the course of twenty years or so” was on Ridge on Sunday to debunk what he says is the 'exaggeration' of the border issue in Northern Ireland.

Mr Davis said that there is already a border in Northern Ireland and that the UK already deals with it.

“There’s already a border there,” he said.

“There is a customs border there is a judicial border there’s a currency border. Those borders all operate invisibly. It doesn’t matter whether you carry a euro or pound, you can buy your drinks in Belfast in euros and you can buy in Dublin with pounds.”

“The simple truth is; It’s tax, which we deal with already,” he added.

David Davis says he thinks the Irish border is an exaggerated and oversimplified issue when it comes to Brexit negotiations #Pledge pic.twitter.com/QOO0kskbOc — Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) September 30, 2018

“It’s regulations which is the hardest one and it’s what they call rules of origin that is goods coming from the rest of the world going into Europe by a ‘back door’ through Belfast. We can control that. There are only five ports in Northern Ireland, five big ports. We can control that bit of it.”

While Mr Davis claimed that the Irish government was simplifying the border issue, he also said that the matter has been exaggerated and that the UK government would not take extra time to deal with an Irish border or the problems that could arise from it.

“We don’t need one (an extended period of time), we literally don’t need one,” he said.

“I don’t accept the phrase an inconvenient truth, I think it’s an inconvenient exaggeration.”

He resigned as Brexit Secretary in July in protest at Theresa May's Chequers plan.

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