He also accuses the Irish government of ‘oversimplifying’ the border issue.
David Davis is a British Conservative Party politician and the former Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, so he is, you would imagine, about as intimately aware of the delicate nature Brexit might have between Ireland and the UK.
Having said that, during an interview with Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on the topic of the potential impact Brexit might have on Ireland, he accused the Irish government (and the EU commission) of attempting to oversimplify the situation, by looking for a ‘sweeping political answer’.
He also says that the biggest issue with the border will be tax, because: “It doesn’t matter if you’re using a Euro or the pound. You can buy a pint in Belfast in Euros, or you can buy a pint in Dublin in pounds.” Something which is absolutely untrue about Dublin.
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
— Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge (@SkyPoliticsHub) September 30, 2018
Later in the same interview, Davis is asked if he would accept a longer transition to get issues like the Irish border right, and replied: “We don’t need one, we literally don’t need one.”
Considering this has come just hours after Boris Johnson declared that “What we need to do is build a bridge between our islands. Why don’t we? Why don’t we?”
Twitter was quite to point out some of the issues with Davis’ stance:
Exaggerated AND oversimplified?? So he thinks it’s not as important, but much more complicated, than the public realise? pic.twitter.com/qnUy9bu2Oa
— Garrick Leslie (@GarrickLeslie) September 30, 2018
https://twitter.com/commelion/status/1046366687132622849
fact check: If you walk into any business in Ireland with Sterling, they'll direct you to the nearest Bureau de Change. You CANNOT pay for anything in the Reublic with Sterling. As for the North, some businesses do accept Euro, but far from all of them, and mostly near the border
— David Gantly (@davegantly) September 30, 2018
