“Get Brexit done” was the slogan that carried then prime minister Boris Johnson to an 80-seat majority in the 2019 general election. And sure enough, his government did indeed go on to secure the UK’s exit from the European Union.
The “B” word has scarcely surfaced during the 2024 campaign so far, at least in England and Wales. In Northern Ireland, however, it continues to shape political debate. That’s because Johnson’s promise in 2019 that “"there will be no checks on goods going from GB to NI, or NI to GB”, simply did not align with reality.
In short, while Northern Ireland left the EU along with the rest of the UK, it has effectively remained in the EU’s customs union and the single market for goods. This was to avoid creating new border infrastructure between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland but has created a new customs and regulatory border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
