Penny Mordaunt, the Paymaster General, says the government has decided to delay some elements of the new controls.

The British Labour party leader, Kier Starmer has criticized Boris Johnson over abandoning the prime minister’s role as honest broker and accused him of “betraying” the people of Northern Ireland.

The UK gives the EU two weeks either to risk a new ‘approach’ by London or agree the Axis trade checks launched by Brexit deal for Northern Ireland (NI).

Following the government's attempts to extend the ‘grace period’ and its alleged violations of the Brexit rules, the EU commission has launched legal action against the UK to stop it from further breaching the Northern Ireland protocol.

As the deadline for the UK and the EU to come to terms on a trade deal, without which Britain may be obliged to follow WTO rules, fast approaches, it would appear the EU is on the verge of giving London one last chance.