EU referendum: Irish border crackdown claims challenged

Politicians in Northern Ireland have challenged claims made by Chancellor George Osborne that leaving the EU would lead to stringent checks at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

George Osborne said Brexit would mean border checks. Picture; PA

On a visit to Northern Ireland, the Chancellor said tougher border controls were inevitable in the event of Brexit if the Republic remained in the single market while the UK left it.

Sammy Wilson, the Democratic Unionist member of the Northern Irish assembly, dismissed the warning, saying: “There’s a land border between France and Switzerland and you don’t have sealing of the border, so why would Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland be any different?”