Brexit: UK-EU row over Northern Ireland escalates

The UK and EU's disagreement over how to handle post-Brexit trade involving Northern Ireland has escalated.

European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said he was "increasingly concerned" the UK was embarking on "a path of confrontation".

His British negotiating counterpart, Lord Frost, has accused Brussels of behaving "without regard" to the huge sensitivities in Northern Ireland.

The plan in place aims to ensure an open border on the island of Ireland.

The UK wants key changes to the plan, known officially as the Northern Ireland Protocol, while the EU has suggested a more modest package of measures that would reduce its practical impact.

Mr Sefcovic writes that Brussels has come up "with a robust package of solutions which has the potential to fix" challenges in implementing the protocol.

"This was done in good faith and now I am working round the clock to reach an agreement with the UK Government to provide stability, certainty and predictability that Northern Ireland deserves," he writes.

"I am increasingly concerned that the UK Government will refuse to engage with this and embark on a path of confrontation."

Separately, former Brexit chief negotiator Lord Frost accused the EU of an "overly strict" enforcement of the protocol.

The cabinet office minister said the EU was behaving "without regard to the huge political, economic and identity sensitivities" in Northern Ireland.

Lord Frost made the comments in the foreword to a new paper for the Policy Exchange think tank, which details how negotiations in the Brexit process have been hampered by decisions made in 2017.

He suggests that a 2017 EU-UK joint report, which set the terms for the Brexit process, was a result of the UK failing to make "the necessary mental shift from being a member of the EU to negotiating exit from the EU".

Lord Frost said: "We must return to the protocol and deliver a more robust, and more balanced, outcome than we could in 2019."

The latest disagreement over the protocol comes following growing tensions sparked by another post-Brexit issue: Anglo-French fishing rights.