Boris Johnson to visit Belfast to break Northern Ireland Protocol deadlock

Boris Johnson will travel to Belfast on Monday for crisis talks with Northern Irish parties after Unionists blocked the restoration of Stormont in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol .

The Prime Minister is set to meet the leaders of Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in an effort to calm frayed nerves and break the deadlock over restoring power-sharing.

News of his last-minute dash came amid growing warnings that the border in the Irish Sea, put in place by the 2019 Brexit deal, is putting the peace process in peril.

Stormont descended into chaos on Friday with the DUP refusing to allow the election of a new speaker and vowing not to budge until the Protocol is overhauled .

The move means that the Assembly cannot even operate in a caretaker capacity as hoped, with members unable to take their seats.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the DUP, said: "We need to send a very clear message to the EU and to our government that we are serious about getting this Protocol sorted out. This matter needs to be dealt with and while others sit on their hands, we are not prepared to do that.

"We need decisive action taken by the Government. If the EU is serious about protecting the political institutions and the Belfast Agreement, then they know what they need to do."

He condemned the "dither and delay" over ending border checks , echoing the Prime Minister's own expression of frustration with Parliament in 2019 during the Brexit deadlock.

Unionists said that customs checks in the Irish Sea, introduced to prevent the need for a land border with the Republic of Ireland after Brexit, threaten their place in the UK.

The DUP collapsed the Assembly in February when Paul Givan, the former first minister, resigned. It then lost its position as the biggest party in Ulster at last week's election.

Sinn Fein, which overtook it , accused the Unionists of "disgracefully holding the public to ransom for their Brexit mess" and said its decision would "punish" ordinary people.

Michelle O'Neill, the party's Stormont leader, said: " We should be forming an executive to put money in people's pockets and to start to fix our health service."

Without one, the Assembly cannot pass laws to fix challenges in Northern Ireland, such as a growing crisis in the province's health service.

New figures show that the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in A&E across Ulster has more than doubled in the past year.

Micheal Martin, the Irish Taoiseach, said that the DUP had assured him it will re-enter power-sharing once the Protocol row is resolved, adding "there is a landing zone" for a deal.

Simon Coveney, Ireland's foreign minister, told the BBC a majority of people in Ulster had voted for parties which supported the current arrangements.

" Ripping up the Protocol means that you are ripping up the protections for Ireland's north and south from the disruption of Brexit," he said.

"The damage that's doing to Britain's reputation and Britain's relationships across the European Union is something that people need to understand."

Jacob Rees-Mogg told the BBC that he did not believe that the EU would carry out its ultimate threat of cancelling the free trade deal with Britain.

"Cutting off a major supplier is an act of self-harm. Does the EU want to commit acts of self-harm? It may do, but I wouldn't have thought it likely," he said.

It came amid warnings that any attempt to rip up the Protocol would face becoming bogged down in months of political wrangling with pro-EU peers vowing to fight tooth and nail.

Remainers in the House of Lords have pledged to give the Prime Minister a "rough ride" if he goes ahead with plans to override border checks and spark a trade conflict with the EU.

They are poised to table a flurry of amendments to any parliamentary Bill which would water it down, in the hope of enticing nervy backbench Tory MPs into a rebellion against Number 10.

Lord Newby of Rothwell, the leader of the Liberal Democrat peers, told The Telegraph: "Any attempt by the UK Government to rip up the Northern Ireland Protocol is likely to face a rough ride.

"The Government should expect strong opposition to anything that increases trade tensions between the UK and the EU."

Fears of legislative 'ping-pong'

The Lords has the power to hold up Bills for about a year, although ultimately the Commons always has the power to force them through against any opposition.

Labour sources suggested that any legislation could get caught up in a "ping-pong" between the Commons and the Lords if the Government refuses to back down.

One said: "I'm sure when this Bill comes to us there will be lots of amendments because people will want to debate it and hold the Government to account.

"The fear for the Government could be if the Lords post certain amendments, then they would have a massive rebellion in the Commons in support of those."