Irish border could get 'buffer zone' under new Brexit proposals

Northern Ireland could be given joint EU and UK status and a "buffer zone" on its border with the Republic, under new plans being drawn up by David Davis, according to reports.

There was no immediate response from Mr Davis's Department for Exiting the EU to a report in The Sun suggesting the Brexit Secretary is to put forward a radical new solution to the thorny issue of future customs arrangements.

Theresa May's Brexit war cabinet is split down the middle between the Prime Minister's preferred "customs partnership", under which the UK would gather tariffs on behalf of the EU, and the so-called "maximum facilitation" solution using technology to avoid the need for border checks.

With pressure mounting to agree a position before a summit of EU leaders on June 28, Mrs May set up two working groups to find amendments to the two schemes which could unite her feuding ministers.

According to The Sun, Mr Davis - who heads the Max Fac group - is ready to drop his support for technological solutions, after police warned that infrastructure like numberplate recognition cameras would become a target for sectarian attack.

Instead, he is reportedly drawing up a new plan based on the "double-hatted" model in place in Liechtenstein, which would allow the province to operate both UK and EU regulations at the same time.

A 10-mile wide "special economic zone" would be created along the 310-mile border, within which local traders could operate under the Republic's trade rules.

An unnamed Whitehall source told the paper: "Max Fac 2 is tremendously complicated, but it's at least something the Cabinet can unite around."

The source acknowledged it would be a challenge to secure backing for the plan from the Democratic Unionist Party, which props up Mrs May's Government at Westminster and has made clear that it does not want Northern Ireland treated differently from the rest of the UK.