In relation to Brexit the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, stated on Monday that the Irish question could be solved
by regulatory alignment across the UK, implying support for continued membership of the single market and customs» union.
Not exact matches
In a text currently being worked on
by negotiators, the UK is prepared to agree that there'll be «
regulatory alignment» on market and customs rules between both sides of the Irish border, according to reports on Monday.
The UK is less happy — it has to accept some
regulatory alignment which will upset the DUP, but this may be worth it if it gets a final deal on trade that it is happy with (I've shown this
by giving a score of 2 for Ireland and 1 for the UK in this case although, of course, the actual values of the scores is arbitrary — it is only their relative value that matters).
Indeed, it can not spell out the meaning of the phase - one agreement it has already signed, with «full
regulatory alignment» dismissed
by ministers as just another soundbite to add to the «deep and special partnership» and «leaving the EU but not leaving Europe».
As to «
regulatory alignment», it's worth remembering that anyone who exports goods or services to another country has to abide
by the rules of that other country and vice versa for imports.