LONDON: The UK, vowing to defend its territorial "sanctity", said Thursday it plans to submit proposals on a Brexit impasse with the European Union over Northern Ireland in the next two weeks. Brexit minister David Frost said London still wanted a "consensual approach" with Brussels regarding the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol.
"But obviously, all options remain on the table for us," he told an event at the Policy Exchange think-tank alongside Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis. "And I can say today that we will set out our approach to parliament in a considered way on these questions before the summer recess," Frost said, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to rule out suspending the protocol.
The UK parliament breaks up for the summer on July 22, after annual commemorations by Northern Ireland's Protestant community celebrating late 17th century victories over a Catholic king. The main event of the so-called "marching season" - a perennial flashpoint between pro-UK Protestants and pro-Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland - comes on Monday.
Protestant unionists feel betrayed by the Brexit agreement with the EU to regulate trade in Northern Ireland, which now has the UK's only land border with the 27-nation bloc. London and Brussels have compromised over one dispute, extending a grace period to allow chilled meats cross the Irish Sea to enter Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK - England, Scotland and Wales - without border checks until September 30.
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