Following Britain’s departure from the EU, the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss have threatened to trigger Article 16 and suspend part of the UK-EU accord. Negotiations between Ms Truss and her EU counterpart, Maros Sefcovic, have continued for months with very little breakthrouhg.
But now insiders have claimed Mr Johnson will not invoke Article 16 ahead of the Stormont elections in May.
One government insider said the international situation had reshaped thinking on the protocol.
They told the Financial Times: “Before the Ukraine war, it was more likely that we could have triggered Article 16 before purdah kicks in. But now it’s looking pretty uncertain.”
They added: “The whole of government is entirely focused on the Ukraine war, there’s very little ministerial capacity for anything else.”
More to follow…
