Sign up to our newsletter for the latest Northumberland news Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The European Union is using Ireland as “a political weapon” to make it difficult for the UK to leave, Northumberland MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan has claimed.

Talks between the UK and EU have stalled because of disagreement about the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

But Mrs Trevelyan insisted: “It is not something that is irresolvable. And it’s been a political weapon used by the EU.”

Speaking on BBC Two’s Politics Live, she added: “It’s a political weapon being used by the EU to try to frustrate the UK getting a good deal.”

And she said the EU was deliberately making Brexit “as difficult as possible” to discourage other countries from leaving.

While the EU and UK have made progress on a range of issues, disagreement over the Northern Ireland border has yet to be resolved.

If the UK leaves the EU’s Customs Union, as Prime Minister Theresa May plans, there will need to be some sort of border with Ireland, which is inside the Customs Union.

(Image: PA)

However, fears have been raised that this would undermine the Northern Ireland peace process.

An option would be for Northern Ireland to remain inside the Customs Union, which would mean there does not need to be a border with Ireland - but it would effectively create a border between Northern Ireland and the UK, which is not acceptable to the UK government.

In developments which will cause further unease among Tory Brexiteers, leaked Cabinet papers obtained by The Times indicated the transition period during which the UK will remain tied to Brussels could turn into a “long-running” arrangement lasting years.

The option of extending the transition period has been put forward as a way of resolving the impasse over the Irish frontier by giving extra time to find a mechanism to avoid a hard border.

The transition period is due to expire at the end of 2020 and Mrs May has insisted that if an extension is necessary it should only last a few months.

But the leaked documents conceded that the plan “could, in theory, lead to a long-running IP (implementation period)”.

The arrangement could last for many years on a “rolling” basis with an annual decision on whether to extend the period.

Responding to the leak, a Downing Street spokesman said: “This is nothing more than a partial reflection of advice to ministers, and not of decisions taken - the Prime Minister made her position absolutely clear in the House of Commons on Monday.

“As the PM said then, we do not believe any extension to the implementation period will be necessary, and in any event we would have to be out of it well before the end of the Parliament.

“We would not accept a position in which the UK, having negotiated in good faith an agreement which prevents a hard border in Northern Ireland, nonetheless finds itself indefinitely locked into an alternative, inferior arrangement against our will.”

Meanwhile, it has emerged that ships may have to be chartered by Whitehall to ensure vital supplies reach the UK if there is a no-deal Brexit.