UK asks EU for extension of NI Protocol grace periods to 2023

British Cabinet Minister, Michael Gove. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA

The UK has urged the EU to ditch a technical and legalistic approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol as it requested further time to resolve problems linked to its operation.

In a letter to European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic, Britain's Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said there was a need to find “political solutions” to the disruption and red tape associated with the Brexit mechanism.