Just under three months after Brexit was formally completed, EU Brexit chief Maros Sefcovic wrote to the Government to formally begin legal proceedings for the second time in six months. The move comes after No10 announced plans to unilaterally delay the introduction of customs checks on supermarket and other agricultural goods being shipped from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland. Checks will be needed because Northern Ireland is in the UK customs territory but the EU single market, and has a free-flowing border with the EU-member Republic of Ireland. But the UK government hit back at Brussels today, insisting the measures were "temporary, operational steps to minimise disruption in Northern Ireland." A UK government spokesperson said: "They are lawful and part of a progressive and good faith implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Source: Daily Mirror March 15, 2021 16:58 UTC