UK Chancellor George Osbourne has warned that Brexit could result in a tightening of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. He also claimed that farmers would be hit by the move as they would no longer receive subsidies from the EU.
Osbourne spoke during a tour of Warrenpoint Harbour in Co Down which handles a huge amount of industry imports and exports.
Mr Osborne has previously stressed that Brexit would trigger a “profound economic shock” in Northern Ireland and result in the return of checkpoints along the border.
“I’m here at Warrenpoint and it’s a very practical demonstration of the fact that Northern Ireland has the only land border (in the UK) with an EU country.
“If we were to quit the EU, then jobs would be lost. I think Northern Ireland would be particularly hard hit. You would have a hardening of the Border.
“You only have to listen to the businesses at the port here, telling us that jobs would be lost and their futures would be uncertain.”
He continued: “If we quit the EU, this is going to be the Border with the EU. There would have to be a hardening of the Border, imposed by the British Government or, indeed, by the Irish Government, and that would have an impact on business.”
Osbourne emphasized that farmers would be worst hit by the move as the UK would simply not be able to match the almost £2bn (€2.5bn) Northern Ireland received in a seven-year period from Europe.
“Close to 90pc of farming incomes here come from EU support payments,” he said. “What would happen if we left? The whole country would have less money.”