[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

The problem is, Andrew, you see every difficulty as an insurmountable problem.

As an example, one simple way of overcoming the border issue between Ireland and Northern Ireland is to give NI membership of the WTO in its own right. That particular solution was put forward by Pascal Lamy himself, who is the former Head of the WTO.

As I have said many times before on this thread, solutions to intractable problems are often found by thinking outside of the box.

The NI border issue is a complete red herring and is not a 'barrier' to a successful Brexit. Solutions are available, although Barnier seems to enjoy rejecting everything put in front of him. He'd better make the most of it, because the clock is ticking (tick tock ) and it will soon be time for him to get real and stop messing about.

I don't see every difficulty as an insurmountable problem, Old Boy. That's unfair. There were a number of quick wins with Brexit like equal settlement rights for EU27 citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU 27 countries.

I do think that the Irish border presents a very, very difficult and fascinating situation to solve.
Giving Northern Ireland membership of the WTO won't solve the issue. NI and Eire need something akin to a customs union and single market for a soft border and this on its own would not achieve it. That's what you'll find Pascal Lamy was talking about. This of course creates a hard border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is unacceptable to the DUP.
The following quote gives some insight into Pascal Lamy's thoughts which I think you will find instructive.

Lamy suggested one solution would be for the UK to give Northern Ireland the power to operate its own trade policy.
He cited the example of Macau in south-west China, which has a seat at the WTO as Beijing has allowed it to operate its own trade and customs policies.
Yet he acknowledged that even that arrangement would see the need for a border, either “north/south” or “east/west”.

“That’s an extremely politically complex question,” he added.
When asked by the DUP’s Sammy Wilson if a physical border along the land boundary is the only way of complying with the requirements of the WTO, Lamy replied: “Yes. That’s my view.
“I find the concept of a virtual border extremely interesting, attractive. But I’ve never seen a virtual border.”
He added that Sweden and Norway – respectively inside and outside the customs union – has border posts.
When asked if he could think of any examples of a “completely invisible” border between countries separated by a customs union, Lamy replied: “I can’t think of any examples of this kind.”

The Irish border situation has been unsolved for two years now so 24 months' thinking hasn't come up with a solution acceptable to the Brexiters, DUP or the Irish Republic.

I'm not sure why you're bothererd about Barnier. The UK Government hasn't actually proposed a solution to the border issue yet due to internal divisions. Both solutions under consideration are unacceptable to Ireland and the EU.

Mrs May’s allies say the Chequers summit is likely to come down in favour of a variant of the so-called “maximum facilitation” customs proposal, which would use technology and trusted trader schemes to minimise disruption at the Irish border — but not remove it altogether. “It won’t run and there isn’t a single supporter of it in the EU and they won’t ever agree it,” Sir Ivan Rogers, Britain’s former ambassador to the EU, told an FT conference this month.

https://www.ft.com/content/f67f71f4-...1-31da4279a601