Can I ask a question about a "hard border"

[StartedEarly]

Forgive me if this has been done before or if it's a stupid question.

If there is no deal we are told there will be a hard border.

Leo Varadkar has said they will not be policing a hard border.
The UK doesn't want a hard border.

So who exactly is going to come along and build checkpoints?

Most UK imports come from the EU or countries with which we have an FTA via the EU. Agreed.

We do very little trade on WTO rules 41% of our imports are from countries outside the EU. Hardly 'very ittle'.

but what we do is based on EU schedules and tariffs. Agreed.

Post no deal brexit we'll have no FTAs with anyone and no WTO schedules or tariffs. We've already got WTO schedules.

But you started off by saying "No it isn't" in response to my No, because anything that's coming from outside the EU now is already traded on those exact same WTO rules. WTO rules are the same whether we're in the EU or not. Our tariff schedules may change and the countries we have FTAs with may change but the WTO rules remain the same.

The point I was making was to refute the claim that WTO rules say that we'd have to inspect a higher proportion of freight coming from the EU than we do from, for example, Brazil. The reality is that there's no difference between the 'WTO rules' which apply to us trading with Brazil today and those which will apply to us trading with the EU without a CU or FTA.

Have the Uk WTO schedules been finalised... Link?
Last night Vince Cable was talking about how there are no WTO rules. The WTO is being eviscerated by the USA. Cowboy rules will prevail soon. Maybe the Brexiters are prescient in believing in no rule of law outside the EU, anyway.

www.explaintrade.com/blogs/2018/11/22/uk-wto-schedules-whats-going-on-now

business.financialpost.com/news/economy/gears-of-wto-could-soon-halt-amid-u-s-concerns-canada-warns

41% of our imports are from countries outside the EU. Hardly 'very ittle'.

And how much of that is from countries we have FTAs with?

We've already got WTO schedules.

As a member of the EU. We've submitted schedules and tariffs in our own right but they haven't been approved. Several other countries have objected to them. So now we have to negotiate with them as WTO operates on a unanimous vote. We don't get our schedules and tariffs approved until every other existing member agrees to them.

You seem to be not-picking about things I haven't even touched on. The discussion was whether, if we leave without a deal and on WTO terms, freight from the EU will have to be searched more often than non-EU freight, already imported on WTO terms, currently does - because of a 'WTO rule' that doesn't actually exist.

how much of that is from countries we have FTAs with?

Irrelevant to the point I was making.

We don't get our schedules and tariffs approved until every other existing member agrees to them.

We don't have to get them approved to use them. We just use them and if it upsets anyone they object. The EU traded on out-of-date schedules from 2004 to 2017 and (last time I heard) the new schedules still haven't been approved by the WTO. We're still using the EU's schedules though, despite objections.

One of the best journalists covering Brexit analysing the backstop debate
www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2019/0201/1027016-brexit/

Thanks for that link HappyHugs that's a very good and clear summary of where it all is now and what might happen in the next bit.

The NI vote (note the border constituencies) and the likely impact of No Deal on support for a United Ireland