Former Brexit minister says Boris Johnson has ‘no option’ but to rip up ‘part or all’ of NI protocol

Prospect of trade war brought closer as ministers ratchet up tensions with Brussels

David Frost has used his Telegraph column to call for unilateral action on the post-Brexit protocol (Peter Byrne/PA)

Boris Johnson’s government “has no option” but to tear up “part or all” of the Northern Ireland Protocol, former Brexit minister David Frost has said.

Joint efforts to resolve the issues with the post-Brexit arrangement governing trade in Northern Ireland have “reached the end of the road”, the UK’s former negotiator in Brussels insisted on Thursday night – urging the prime minister to take unilateral action even if it means “confrontation” with the EU.

But Lord Frost’s stark intervention merely echoed the prevailing brinkmanship which brought the prospect of a trade war several steps closer on Thursday, with the government’s chief legal advisor refusing to deny reports she had approved the scrapping of large parts of the deal.