Varadkar and Starmer head to Belfast as attempts to resolve protocol row ramp up

Labour leader Keir Starmer meets with Leo Varadkar in the Houses of Parliament in London, to discuss a range of topics such as Anglo-Irish relations and the trade links between the two nations. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and British Labour leader Keir Starmer are to travel to Belfast on Thursday as efforts to resolve the dispute over the protocol ramp up.

The Taoiseach and Mr Starmer are to meet with the main Stormont parties to discuss the deadlock over the post-Brexit protocol, which the DUP party has cited as its reason for boycotting Northern Ireland’s devolved institutions since May.