The UK prime minister is understood to have doubts whether a deal on the protocol, which regulates trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, can be reached by Christmas, but is confident it will be reached by April. After a meeting between Sunak and Biden on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Downing Street said they “look forward to working together to promote cooperation between the UK and the US in areas such as trade, defense and support for Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement’. Biden “expressed his desire for a negotiated settlement that protects the Good Friday Agreement, which the prime minister has agreed to,” his press secretary said. “The Prime Minister has referred to that anniversary next year and has ensured that we will reach a negotiated settlement that protects the Good Friday Agreement until then.” Downing Street described the first meeting between Biden and Sunak as “very friendly and warm”. Relations between the two countries have been strained in recent years due to post-Brexit deals in Northern Ireland. Pressed on whether the US president expressed concerns about the situation in Northern Ireland in general, Sunak’s press secretary said: “Yes.” Biden, who is of Irish heritage, has been concerned about the threat to the Northern Ireland peace process posed by the protocol impasse. The Democratic Unionist Party is boycotting the devolved institutions in protest at the protocol and the party says it will not support a return to a Stormont executive until financial barriers to trade between Britain and Northern Ireland are lifted. Last week, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris extended by six weeks the deadline for Stormont parties to form a caucus until December 8, with the option of a further six-week extension. The deadline for setting up a new executive ended on 28 October, with the government under a legal obligation to hold a new vote within 12 weeks, by 19 January. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said there were still “large gaps” between the UK and the EU in negotiations over the protocol. He told Westminster’s European scrutiny committee that there was a “better atmosphere” between the UK and the EU, but goodwill and trust were “not enough”. “These ingredients are there… [but] … we should not jump to the conclusion that everything is therefore going to be fine, because there is still serious work to be done and there are still big gaps,” he told the committee.
