Re: Hard border or no hard border ?
There are a few parts to consider to the Irish Border.
The first is that there is the common travel area (CTA) that came into effect in the 1920's, way before the EU and has been in place ever since.
The second is that the border that existed during the "troubles" was never a customs border, it was a security border.
Third, smuggling has never ever been anything to do with the customs union or the single market, it is a separate issue.
Fourth, the Good Friday Agreement doesn't really mention the border at all, only in a small part that refers to "border areas" for social cohesion.
Varadkar, Coveny and the EU mafia are using this "border issue" as the lever to threaten the people of Ireland and the UK with the return to violence should we dare leave the EU as we so wish to do. It really is dirt tricks by these bastards, because the EU has never been anything to do with the GFA, the CTA or the security border during the troubles. In fact if the EU was the promoter of peace as it claims to be, it shouldn't be mentioning the Irish Border at all and an agreement would be put in place as a matter of urgency to preserve peace, rather than the EU mobsters acting like "nay sayers" and winding everyone up.
The other myth around a hard Irish Border is that "WTO rules say they need one"... well, they do, but they also say that not unless, for political reasons, it would cause unrest (or words to that effect). The WTO is in favour of moving away from hard borders anyway to adopt more efficient and less obtrusive methods of controls, such as the use of electronic pre-clearing. For the WTO, an open border would not be an issue.
The border already exists in Ireland - it has a VAT border, a currency border and a geographical border. The road signs change between the republic and NI, as do the road markings, currency etc.
The only problem that the UK (and NI) have is the lack of political will from the EU mob to resolve it using (already in use) trusted trader, AEO schemes, and electronic customs pre-clearing. Everything else can be done away from the border as is done in Calais, Rotterdam and other places where 3rd Countries (and EU member states) converge in trade. You could agree this in an hour over lunch, it really is that simple. Installing these systems take time, but interim arrangements can easily be made quickly enough.
The backstop is there for 2 catastrophic reasons.
1. It traps the UK in the EU forever, where they take our money, make our rules and punish us for eternity where we become the Alcatraz of Europe.
2. It allows the EU to pass power to the Republic so that Northern Ireland is governed by them, allowing the Republic to make a land grab effectively, and claiming the NI colony as their own (imagine the fireworks if they tried this - so much for the EU being the patrons of peace).
So, the behaviour of the unelected bastards in the EU and the Irish mafia wannabe's have done nothing short of attempting to violate peace in Ireland in an attempt to trap the UK in the undemocratic sewer that is the EU.
A no deal Brexit on the other hand, means the UK controls everything coming in and going out of the Republic of Ireland. If this happens, just watch the unelected bastards in the EU throw the jug eared tosser Varadkar and his scrawny mate Coveny under a bus.