Brexit news – live: EU says ‘genuine urgency’ needed to resolve protocol row following Brussels talks

The EU has welcomed the British government’s “change in tone” ahead of continued talks on the Northern Ireland protocol.

Speaking on Friday morning, Maros Sefcovic, EU Commission vice president, said: “I notice and welcome a recent change in tone from the UK government and we hope that actions will follow the words.”

However, he warned London that the bloc would not “renegotiate the protocol”, as this would “put at risk the stability in Northern Ireland and it would be unnecessary because solutions are available within the framework of the protocol”.

Brexit minister Lord Frost will be in Brussels today for talks with Mr Sefcovic.

Back in the UK, the culture secretary has complained that she cannot air her right wing views online without being challenged, writes Jon Stone.

Nadine Dorries claimed that social media platforms had been “hijacked” by left-wingers.

“I think we just need to tone down the condemnation and the judgement, and evaluate and engage a little bit more than we do. I think social media probably contributes a lot to this,” she told the BBC.

The government was “not prepared” for the coronavirus pandemic and must learn lessons from the “catastrophic” event, an independent parliamentary body has said.

Gareth Davies, from the National Audit Office, told Sky News: “So there was no plan for how to deal with school closures. There was no plan for employment support schemes. So, the furlough scheme had to be developed from scratch in just a very short number of weeks.

“So the question that rightly raises is, what is it about the way that the risk planning for these kinds of events was carried out that left us unprepared?”

More British soldiers will be sent to Poland to help with the situation on the Belarusian border, reports suggest.

This comes after 10 troops from the UK were deployed there last week.

Thousands of migrants are currently at the border between Poland and Belarus, with the Belarusian regime accused of “weaponising” vulnerable people in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the EU.

A total of 100 troops from the Royal Engineers will travel to Poland to help with their response to the crisis, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said Minsk is using the migrants as “pawns”.

#icymi

In recent days, there has been speculation that migrants who arrive in England by boat could be sent to Albania for processing, a rumour vigorously denied by Albanian diplomats and politicians.

But could this process happen in a different country?

Sean O’Grady examines the issue:

Labour has accused the health secretary Sajid Javid of breaching the ministerial code by holding share options in a US company that is involved in the health sector.

Mr Javid has “option for 666.7 common shares per month” in the AI firm C3.ai, which he worked for during his recent stint as a backbencher.

He is reportedly to have started to divest from the options, which are worth £45,000.

However, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has written to the prime minister about the issue, arguing it is a “clear conflict of interest and breach of the ministerial code”

“In September, the secretary of state’s department announced that the use of ‘artificial intelligence’ would shorten waiting lists in our NHS,” she added.

Brussels has warned the UK government that its Brexit trade deal is “intrinsically linked” to enforcing the Northern Ireland border protocol.

Ahead of crunch talks on Friday Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s Brexit chief said: “One cannot exist without the other”.

The comments raise the stakes because the UK has been threatening to suspend the Northern Ireland agreement, which it wants renegotiated on more favourable terms.

But Mr Sefcovic’s warning is a hint that Brussels and EU capitals might choose to suspend the separate trade deal between the UK and EU if Britain pulls the plug.

Before his crunch talks with the EU commission vice president in Brussels, Lord Frost warned that “significant gaps” remain between the UK and the EU’s positions on the protocol.

Once again, he also reiterated the possibility that UK could trigger Article 16.

“Our preference is to see if we can find a negotiated way through this problem. If we can’t, Article 16 remains on the table,” he said.

“There are a number of issues that need to be fixed if we are going to resolve this problem. There are still really quite significant gaps between us.”

Lord Frost added that he didn’t expect a breakthrough today.

Downing Street has said the government is working “extremely closely” with French authorities to reduce the number of migrant boats crossing the Channel.

However, a No 10 spokesperson added that more needed to be done and that “shared solutions” were required.

“We are facing a global migration crisis choreographed by organised crime groups who put people on these boats to make these incredibly dangerous crossings,” they added.

Returning to Brexit once more, Micheal Gove is confident that the UK will not need to trigger Article 16.

Speaking in Cardiff, the housing minister said the EU and the British government were taking a “constructive approach” to a disagreement about the protocol.

“I do believe that there is a constructive approach that’s being taken by the commission and Lord Frost has signalled that while, of course, it’s always possible that Article 16 may require to be invoked, we’re confident that we’ll be able to make progress without it.”