What is happening to Brexit rules for Northern Ireland?

Liz Truss is said to have ordered officials to be ready to trigger Article 16. John Rentoul explains the context

Maros Sefcovic, European Commission vice-president, and Liz Truss, meeting for talks earlier this month (PA)

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, has told officials to be ready to trigger Article 16 from next week, in an attempt to force a deal with the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol, according to The Times. What is going on?

One theory is that Truss has realised her approach, which has been less confrontational than that of David Frost, is not working, so she has had to return to the threat of suspending (parts of) the protocol to try to make progress before the Northern Ireland assembly elections in May.

When she took over responsibility for the Northern Ireland negotiations in December – on the resignation of Lord Frost – she sounded as if she was going to adopt a more constructive tone. But the talks have made no visible progress since then.