Frost refuses to publish protocol amendments

Britain’s Brexit chief has refused to publish details of his plans for changes to the Northern Ireland protocol, despite having already shared them with the EU. Lord Frost said the legal text – which opposition parties want to scrutinise – was not a “new stage or evolution in our position” and simply reflected the UK’s position set out earlier in the summer.

- JON STONE

But despite claiming that the text contained nothing new, and having already shared it with Brussels, the minister said he would not be making it public or allowing parliament to look at it. “It’s a negotiating document for the purposes of negotiations. It does not change the UK government’s position in any way,” he said. Lord Frost also appeared to suggest the government had not explicitly consulted with ministers in Northern Ireland during the process of drawing up the final legal text.