Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to travel to Northern Ireland for talks with Stormont parties following EU-UK deal

Mr Cleverly is set to travel to Northern Ireland later this week for talks on the deal between the UK and EU on sharing trade data.

Labour leader Keir Starmer and the Irish premier, Leo Varadkar, are both set to hold their own talks in Northern Ireland on Thursday.

The data-sharing deal has been described as a “new basis for EU-UK discussions” and hints at possible progress on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Following a meeting in London, involving both Mr Cleverly and the European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, both sides of the negotiations released a joint statement: "They noted this work was a critical prerequisite to building trust and providing assurance, and provided a new basis for EU-UK discussions."

The agreement would give the EU access to UK computer systems, providing detailed information about the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The deal has been welcomed by Sinn Fein. The party’s MLA Declan Kearney, speaking on BBC Radio Ulster this morning, said: “It demonstrates that it's possible to find the flexibilities and it would be my firm hope that we will now see further work made in finding a pragmatic and durable agreement [on the protocol] into the future.”

TUV leader Jim Allister, however, was critical.

In a statement, Mr Allister said: “It is indicative that the present talks are about better implementation of the protocol only and that the EU position of no change to its text is being pandered to.”

He added: “The joint UK/EU statement that they have agreed ‘on the way forward regarding the specific question of the EU's access to UK IT systems', should fool no one into thinking progress is being made on recovering U.K. sovereignty over NI and reversing the detachment of this part of the United Kingdom.”

Meanwhile, Stormont parties are today set for round table talks with the Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris on Wednesday – aimed at restoring the power-sharing executive before the deadline for calling an assembly election is reached.