northern ireland

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee is demanding more detail from the government on its plans for post-Brexit border controls between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The demand follows the government’s response to the committee’s report, published in March, on the land border between the two countries.

One of the report’s key recommendations was that the government provide more detail on its plans for the island’s border arrangements.

But the committee said it was disappointed in the amount of detail provided in the government's response to the document.

Publishing the government’s response, committee chairman Andrew Murrison said: “We are disappointed with the lack of detail provided by the government in response to our report on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

“We had hoped that the government would recognise our intent and engage seriously with the issues we highlighted in our report.

Instead we have been provided with little more information than when we published our findings three months ago.

In most of the government responses to the committee’s key recommendations, the government has referred the committee to the Joint UK-EU report published in December last year.

Murrison said: “Time and again in the response the government refers back to previously published documents or agreements to set out their position. They have provided the very broadest impression of their intentions when our recommendations asked for detail.”

In most of the government responses to the committee’s key recommendations, the government has referred the committee to the Joint UK-EU report published in December last year.

“As a committee we were expecting more at this stage but are left none the wiser on progress made on the border conundrum. We are obliged to press the government for answers.”

Murrison said he had written to the secretary of state for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley asking her to expand on the original response.

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