Truss to set out UK Government's plans for changing NI Brexit deal
It's understood Liz Truss will make the announcement in the Commons
The Foreign Secretary is expected to outline the UK Government’s strategy for changing parts of the post-Brexit trade deal on Northern Ireland.
It is understood that Liz Truss will make the announcement in a statement to the Commons following a full Cabinet meeting, to restore power sharing in the region.
The row over the Protocol has created an impasse in efforts to form a new Executive, with the DUP refusing to nominate a First Minister and form a fully functioning Executive unless its concerns over the arrangements are addressed.
Most MLAs in Stormont's newly elected Assembly represent parties that support retaining the protocol, with many arguing that the arrangement offers the region protection from some of the negative economic consequences of Brexit.
The move to rewrite parts of the deal could risk a trade war with the European Union.
But a Foreign Office source said, "this isn't about picking a fight with the EU", saying that Ms Truss' priority is to uphold the Good Friday Agreement.
They said: “The peace process and acting in the interests of Northern Ireland is what motivates her."
The PA news agency understands Ms Truss' ambition is to lay the legislation in Parliament within a couple of weeks, and certainly before the summer.
But the overwhelming preference is thought to remain a negotiated solution.
The Global Britain (Strategy) Committee, which consider matters relating to the UK's trade priorities, will meet first on Tuesday, followed by the full Cabinet, before Ms Truss delivers her statement to the Commons.
On Monday evening, the Foreign Secretary held calls with Ireland's foreign minister, Simon Coveney, and European Commission vice-president, Maros Sefcovic.
In both, Ms Truss said she underlined the importance of upholding the Good Friday Agreement and re-establishing the Executive.
Mr Sefcovic later said engaging with "flexibilities" offered by the EU would be preferable to taking unilateral action on the protocol.
He tweeted: "With political will, practical issues arising from the implementation of the protocol in Northern Ireland can be resolved.
"Engaging with us on the flexibilities we offer would be a better course of action than unilateral one. We're ready to play our part, as from the outset."
It comes after the Prime Minister travelled to Belfast to meet leaders of the Stormont parties to secure progress.
He also used Monday's trip to issue a warning to Brussels that the UK is prepared to rewrite unilaterally the terms of the Brexit deal he signed.
Mr Johnson described that plan as an "insurance" policy if a fresh deal could not be reached with the EU.
The threat of unilateral action has already gone down badly in European capitals, with EU leaders urging the UK Government to fully participate in talks.
However, Brandon Lewis said there had been no intention to introduce legislation this week to unilaterally overwrite parts of the Protocol.
The Northern Ireland Secretary, asked whether plans to introduce domestic legislation this week had been delayed until the summer, told Sky News: "Something like that this week was never on the cards.
"We're still debating the Queen's Speech and won't finish debating the Queen's Speech and voting on that until later this week, later tomorrow, so in that sense it was never on the cards.
"But what we have always said is that we will not take anything off the table.
"We will do what we need to do to ensure that products can move to Northern Ireland in the way that they should be able to move to Northern Ireland from Great Britain as part of the United Kingdom internal market, something the protocol itself says it will respect but at the moment is not working properly.
"We would like to do that by agreement with the EU but we reserve the right to do what we need to do to do the right thing for the people of Northern Ireland and the wider United Kingdom."
By Amy Gibbons and Dominic McGrath, PA
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