The Irish border is not the insoluble obstacle to Brexit negotiations that it has been made out to be and the UK can leave the single market and customs union while preserving a frictionless border in Ireland. This can be achieved by the use of new technology and in the context of a Free Trade Agreement between the UK and EU, in an arrangement that goes beyond the Customs Partnership and in no way threatens the Good Friday Agreement.

This is the argument set out in detail in this new paper by Policy Exchange’s Chief Economic Adviser, Dr Graham Gudgin and former Irish diplomat Ray Bassett, which calls for the so-called ‘Max Fac option’ to be pursued by the UK Government.