Adopting technology-based proposals originally envisaged for Irish land border checks would not resolve Brexit’s Irish Sea border issue, a trade expert has told MPs. Shanker Singham was a key figure in the Alternative Arrangements Commission that outlined a blueprint in 2019 for avoiding the Brexit “backstop” plan advocated by then-prime minister Theresa May. It proposed using existing technical and digital approaches, along with trusted trader schemes, as a way to manage Brexit checks between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic without the need for physical infrastructure on the border. Documentary checks and physical inspections are required on agri-food goods arriving into Northern Ireland from Great Britain (Brian Lawless/PA)