The UK parliament's Exiting the EU Committee said on Friday morning that the government's decision to withdraw from the European single market and customs union were impossible to reconcile with a "frictionless" Irish border.

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"We cannot at present see how leaving the customs union and the single market can be reconciled with there being no border or infrastructure," said opposition Labour Party MP Hilary Benn, chair of the committee — a panel of MPs whose role is to scrutinize the Brexit talks.

The border will be the only land link between the EU and the UK after Brexit.

London wants to withdraw from the customs union — within which goods can move freely — but has said it will not reimpose border posts, which many have said might upset the last 20 years of peace in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland witnessed 28 years of violence between a predominantly Irish nationalist Catholic community and the pro-British unionist Protestant community. Over 3,500 people were killed in the conflict, known as "the Troubles."

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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe July 2016: 'Brexit means Brexit' Former Home Secretary Theresa May replaced David Cameron as prime minister on July 11 and promised the country that "Brexit means Brexit." May had quietly supported the Remain campaign before the referendum. She did not initially say when her government would trigger Article 50 of the EU treaty to start the two-year talks leading to Britain's formal exit.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe March 2017: 'We already miss you' May eventually signed a diplomatic letter over six months later on March 29, 2017 to trigger Article 50. Hours later, Britain's ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, handed the note to European Council President Donald Tusk. Britain's exit was officially set for March 29, 2019. Tusk ended his brief statement on the decision with: "We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye."

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe June 2017: And they're off! British Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, kicked off talks in Brussels on June 19. The first round ended with Britain reluctantly agreeing to follow the EU's timeline for the rest of the negotiations. The timeline split talks into two phases. The first would settle the terms of Britain's exit, and the second the terms of the EU-UK relationship post-Brexit.

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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe December 2017: Go-ahead for phase 2 Leaders of the remaining 27 EU members formally agreed that "sufficient progress" had been made to move on to phase two issues: the post-Brexit transition period and the future UK-EU trading relationship. While Prime Minister Theresa May expressed her delight at the decision, European Council President Tusk ominously warned that the second stage of talks would be "dramatically difficult."

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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe April 2019: Brexit delayed until Halloween With the April 12 deadline looming after the third defeat of May's deal, EU leaders met again in Brussels to discuss a second delay. The only question was how long should it be? In the end, the UK and EU agreed to a "flexible" extension until October 31 — which can end sooner if the Brexit deal is approved. The UK had to take part in EU elections in May because their exit wasn't secured in time.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe May 2019: Prime Minister Theresa May resigns Weeks of talks between Prime Minister Theresa May and the Labour party to reach a deal proved unsuccessful and further eroded her political capital. She triggered an angry backlash from her party after she tried to put the option of a second referendum on the table. The series of failures led May to announce her resignation, effective June 7, in an emotional address.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe June 2019: Search for a new prime minister After Theresa May announced on June 7 that she would leave office, other members of her Conservative party began clamoring for the top job. Within a month, the leadership battle came down to Jeremy Hunt (left), an EU proponent who fears a no-deal scenario, and Boris Johnson (right), one of the main proponents of Brexit.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe July 2019: Prime Minister Boris Johnson At the end of July 2019, Johnson was officially named Theresa May's successor as British prime minister. "We are going to energize the country, we are going to get Brexit done by October 31," he said after he was elected leader of the Conservative Party.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe September 2019: Johnson's election threat Conservative rebels and opposition MPs backed efforts to delay an October 31 Brexit deadline in fear of a no-deal departure. In response, Johnson called for a general election, saying his government cannot rule without a mandate after he stripped 21 rebel MPs of their Conservative status. The Labour Party said it would not back elections until legislation to block a no-deal Brexit was in place.

Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe September 2019: Prorogation 'unlawful' In late September, Britain's highest court ruled that Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament ahead of the UK's planned exit was unlawful. "This was not a normal prorogation in the run-up to a Queen's Speech," said the Supreme Court. Political rivals immediately called on Johnson to leave his post. Johnson said he would abide by the court ruling, though said he "strongly" disagreed.

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A peace deal was agreed in 1997 with the help of US assistance under then-US President Bill Clinton. The Good Friday Agreement, signed the following year, has largely determined the political situation since.

The committee said the government "must work to ensure goods flow freely at UK borders regardless of whether a deal is struck before Britain leaves the EU in March 2019."

It also urged the government to explain its strategy for the two-year transition period after Britain's exit.

It said the British government's proposals for handling the issue — which include technology to create a "light touch" border — were "untested and, to some extent, speculative."

The committee, which based its report on evidence from Brexit minister David Davis, said the government needed to publish more detail on its short-term plans for a transition period and its long-term vision of a future trading relationship with the EU.

"If phase two of the talks do start next month, then ministers need to move beyond words like ‘bespoke' and ‘special' and actually explain what it is they are seeking," Benn said.

He added that the rights of EU nationals living in the UK and vice-versa should be guaranteed, regardless of whether there was a wider deal.

Some pro-Brexit MPs from Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party declined to support the committee's statement.

Unblocking the talks

London wants Brexit negotiations to move on to trade talks at the December 14-15 EU summit in Brussels, where EU leaders will decide if London has made "sufficient progress" on divorce issues.

But Ireland's new deputy prime minister Simon Coveney, who also serves as the country's foreign minister, said on Friday that the talks would not advance unless the UK government can provide a concrete solution that would avoid the return of a hard border to the island of Ireland.

He told the BBC that the UK needs "to give reassurance that there will not be regulatory divergence between the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland", meaning effectively no need for border checks of any kind.

Irish commuters currently face no customs checks when they cross the border

The issue has gone from garnering relatively little attention in the earlier stages of the Brexit negotiations to becoming perhaps the most challenging stumbling block.

Reports in Ireland overnight suggest that talks on the issue between the EU and the British government have intensified in recent days, with suggestions that the UK may be willing to make concessions to the Irish and the EU on the matter.

Those reports have alarmed members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland. The DUP strongly campaigned for Brexit and their support is currently crucial to the survival of Theresa May's government in Westminster.

They have repeatedly warned against any arrangement which would see Northern Ireland treated differently to the rest of the UK.

"If there is any hint that in order to placate Dublin and the EU they’re prepared to have Northern Ireland treated differently than the rest of the UK then they can’t rely on our vote," said long-serving DUP MP Sammy Wilson.

EU President Donald Tusk will travel to Dublin later on Friday for talks with Ireland's Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar, in an attempt to gain further clarity on the issue holding up a Brexit deal with Britain.

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amp, jbh/rc (AFP, Reuters)