Inside Politics: EU to axe more checks on GB goods arriving in Northern Ireland

Reports say up to 50 per cent of checks could be scrapped as Brussels and London seek to solve Brexit impasse, writes Matt Mathers

(PA)

Boris Johnson got elected in 2019 on a pledge to “get Brexit done”– a goal he has since been widely credited with achieving. Yet here we are in October 2021 still talking about the UK’s departure from Europe and the Northern Ireland protocol. Reports this morning say Brussels will offer to scrap a majority of checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of Great Britain. Elsewhere, there are fresh fears about empty shelves at Christmas and continuing energy industry woes. Meanwhile, Labour is calling on the PM to get serious about the upcoming Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Inside the bubble

The European Commission will unveil its response to the UK’s demands to rewrite the Northern Ireland protocol, triggering a(nother) period of intense negotiations before Boris Johnson decides whether to suspend all or part of the agreement.