No 10 Demands ‘Flexibility' From EU Over Northern Ireland As Trade War Looms

And in a separate development, Britain's former ambassador to the EU warned that there was a "severe risk” the UK was heading into a trade war.

- Kate Devlin

The EU must display the same flexibility it has shown during the Ukraine crisis to resolve the standoff over the Northern Ireland protocol, government sources have said, just days before the row is set to come to a head.

Sources told The Independent that the bloc had shown enormous agility when it took in huge numbers of people almost overnight after Russia invaded Ukraine. But they added that the UK would be forced to act if some of the same flexibility and creativity were not applied in relation to the protocol, which ministers insist is threatening the Belfast peace process.

Boris Johnson has confirmed the government will this week set out plans expected to allow ministers to unilaterally scrap part of his Brexit deal.

The prime minister said that ministers would set out more details “in the coming days” – despite warnings they could trigger a trade deal war with the European Union - in an editorial in the Belfast Telegraph newspaper.