UK negotiator calls on EU to ‘shake off remaining ill will over Brexit’

The chief British negotiator in Northern Ireland from 1997 to 2007 said David Frost had chosen to “poke a stick in the eye” of the bloc by taking unilateral action on the grace periods.

The UK Government’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost has called on Brussels to ‘shake off any remaining ill will’ towards the UK for leaving the bloc. Picture: Aaron Chown/PA

The UK Government’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost has called on Brussels to “shake off any remaining ill will” towards the UK for leaving the bloc as arrangements governing trade to Northern Ireland continue to prove contentious.

The European Commission has said it will launch legal action against Whitehall after the UK announced it was extending a series of “grace periods” designed to ease trade between Northern Ireland – which remains in the EU single market for goods – and Great Britain while permanent arrangements are decided.