The British government is reported to have proposed setting up customs sites near the border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland as a means to overcome the impasse over the so-called backstop in the EU withdrawal agreement. What are the proposals and will they work?

What is the government’s plan?

According to the plan leaked to the Irish broadcaster RTE, the solution for trade on the Irish border involves customs clearance sites not at the border, but between five and 10 miles from either side of it.

Alternatively HGV drivers and cargo owners could elect to have a tracking device on their vehicle which would be monitored in real time with customs declarations completed online.

Large scale customs operations rely on a combination of trust and random and intelligence-led checks to ensure that what is in trucks matches what is on the customs declarations forms.

Anything else?

Yes, he is also proposing an all-island agri-food zone that would see Northern Ireland align with the EU laws which would apply south of the border. This would protect the dairy trade and that of meat including beef, lamb and chicken. Johnson has claimed this is a very big concession from the UK.

How is it different from Theresa May’s agreement?

The former prime minister’s plan involved a backstop policy that would apply across the entire UK including Britain in the event that talks on the future trading relationship broke down. This meant there would be no need for any Northern Ireland-only specific arrangements, no need for any checks anywhere near the border. The withdrawal agreement also involved a complex web of pledges on intangibles that would protect cross-border communities, including legally binding pledges to uphold all aspects of the Good Friday/Belfast agreement which includes a level of ministerial cooperation north/south and east/west.

Will the EU buy it?

This plan is dead on arrival. Ireland’s deputy prime minister dismissed it as a “non-starter”. In a tweet just before midnight he said it was time that the EU and Ireland had a “serious proposal”.

Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) Non-Paper = Non-Starter. Time the EU had a serious proposal from the UK Govt if a #Brexit deal is to be achievable in October. NI and IRE deserves better!

Why is it such a problem?

It is a big departure from May’s commitment that there would be no infrastructure on the border. It also pays little attention to the unique history and geography around the border, which is 310 miles long with 270 public cross border roads, many closed or cratered by the army during the troubles to stop traffic.

It would risk the economic activity on both sides of the border and the social cohesion that has been built since the Good Friday/Belfast agreement 21 years ago.

According to a parliamentary report 177,000 heavy goods and 208,000 light goods vehicles cross the border every month.

Cross border communities warn that checks would not just cause inconvenience but risks dividing communities on each side of the border and shattering new relationships between previously divided communities.

Will it fly with backbenchers?

Many MPs have never engaged with the detail of the Irish border backstop or protocols in the withdrawal agreement on Northern Ireland and look to the Democratic Unionist party for their lead. The DUP has been consulted about the proposals and is likely to be in favour of them ahead of delivery (if this now happens) to Brussels. The eurosceptic European Research Group which includes the 28 so-called Spartans who voted against May’s deal three times, have also softened their opposition to the backstop and indicated they would consider a deal that involved a backstop as long as it meant the UK was “genuinely” free of all EU rule.