LONDON (AP) – The British government has said repeatedly that it will end the free movement of people from the European Union when the U.K. leaves the bloc in 2019.
On Wednesday it acknowledged that, in practice, it won’t.
Britain says there must be no border posts between Northern Ireland and the Irish republic after Brexit, and it is committed to maintaining the border-free Common Travel Area covering the U.K. and Ireland. That means free movement across the border for British, Irish and EU citizens.
After Britain leaves the bloc, EU nationals will be able to move without checks from Ireland to Northern Ireland, and onto other parts of the U.K.
Northern Ireland is a thorny issue in Brexit talks, because the open border has helped build economic prosperity underpinning the peace process.