Brexit Minister Lord Frost will meet his EU counterpart Maroš Šefčovič later.
They will assess whether any progress has been made in negotiations on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Mr Šefčovič said this week would be "an important one".
Expectations of progress are low with the UK warning suspending parts of the deal, which leaves Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods, will be the "only option" if talks break down.
If the protocol is causing serious difficulties either side can unilaterally suspend the relevant parts of it by using the Article 16 safeguards clause.
NEIL HALL
However, UK ministers have said such a move is not imminent.
On Thursday, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said Article 16 was there as a "safety mechanism", but he added they were "not at that point".
"And what we should be doing and what we are doing is working constructively with European friends and partners to explore every opportunity that we have to try and resolve some of our differences around the operation of their protocol," he said.
He added: "That's very much our priority."
The protocol leaves Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods.
That means that goods can flow freely between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, removing the threat of a "hard border".
However, goods arriving into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK are now subject to checks and control - amounting to what is being referred to as an "Irish Sea border".
There has been growing speculation that Downing Street could trigger Article 16 in the coming weeks amid the ongoing stalemate - and the EU has threatened to retaliate, for example with trade measures.
'A serious danger of complete instability'
The Republic of Ireland's minister for European affairs said there was "a serious danger of complete instability in Northern Ireland" because of the row.
Thomas Byrne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Both governments, and including the EU and the United States, have worked for the last few decades together to ensure stability, to ensure peace [and] to guarantee the Good Friday Agreement.
"We now have a division, it seems, because of threats by the British government to what they say is to suspend the protocol under Article 16. We're not entirely clear what that's about."
Mr Byrne said there was already instability in Northern Ireland, citing recent bus hijackings, adding: "What the people of Northern Ireland need to see is both governments working together.
"That's why I'm very glad despite the gloomy atmosphere that there are talks taking place today between David Frost and Maroš Šefčovič - that's really, really important."
He said the Republic of Ireland wanted to continue the talks and added that he was confident that they will be constructive.
Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said "if progress is not made" he expects the UK government to trigger Article 16 "because that is the right thing to do to resolve these issues".
"If the Irish government is worried, they should stop talking up the threat of instability," he told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.
"Every day now we have this megaphone diplomacy from the EU side where they're ramping up tension, where they're talking up failure.
"Article 16 is there as a mechanism to deal with the difficulties if negotiations cannot resolve these issues.
"If these negotiations don't reach an outcome I think we are heading towards the UK government taking unilateral action to remove barriers to trade within the UK - to remove the Irish sea border which is seriously impacting on trade within the UK internal market."
He said movement is needed before Christmas.
"Businesses need certainty and the government need to give that certainty."
Boris Johnson, who this week ordered his MPs to devote themselves “above all to your constituents” instead of working on second jobs, has himself earned more than £4m from his own outside interests in the last 14 years.
After he re-entered parliament in 2015 he made £1.6m, mostly in his brief spell as a backbencher in 2018 and 2019, between his time as foreign secretary and prime minister, according to Financial Times calculations based on the register of MPs’ financial interests. Those earnings included £450,000 from speeches, £600,000 from columns and £500,000 from book advances and royalties.
He was mayor of London between 2008 and 2016. Tax returns released when he was mayor showed earnings of £2.7m from 2007-2015. This included a £250,000-a-year Daily Telegraph column that he once described as “chicken feed”.
He “double hatted” an earlier stint as an MP from 2001-2008 with the editorship of the Spectator magazine for four years from 2001.
Johnson has not declared any new sources of private income since becoming prime minister in July 2019. Downing Street has not denied claims that he has continued to work intermittently on a Shakespeare biography, which was first commissioned by publisher Hodder and Stoughton in 2015.
Johnson is at the centre of a sleaze scandal which began last week when he whipped Tory MPs to replace the existing standards system in a move designed to benefit Owen Paterson, a former Conservative minister. Paterson had been found to have broken lobbying rules in an “egregious case of paid advocacy”.
Although Johnson has since dropped the proposals — prompting Paterson’s resignation — his party is now caught up in a row over whether MPs should hold second jobs.
On Wednesday he sought to win back public trust on the issue as he insisted that he believed MPs who broke parliamentary rules on second jobs “should be punished”.
“You must put your job as an MP first and you must devote yourself primarily and above all to your constituents,” he told them on Wednesday.
Some Tory MPs accused the prime minister of hypocrisy given his own past private interests. “Boris was literally editing the Spectator while he was an MP,” said one.
Sir Alistair Graham, former chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, told the FT that Johnson did not have “the ideal track record” to be the person in charge of implementing a public desire for improved standards.
Not only had Johnson made millions through his own private work while in politics, but he had also tried to “subvert” the system last week and was himself the subject of up to three probes into his own behaviour, Sir Alistair said.
“When you take those three things together, his track record makes it difficult for him to take the moral high ground on standards issues when he has been very careless in his own approach,” he added.
Lord Jonathan Evans, the current chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life — and a former MI5 chief — said the group had in 2018 recommended a ban on MPs carrying out second jobs as lobbyists.
“The critical thing is that nothing that an MP does should get in the way of their ability to work for their constituents,” he added. “As long as someone spends a long time on their second job, they can’t support their constituents.”
Azeem Rafiq says he is "incredibly hurt" that England captain Joe Root said he could not recall ever witnessing racism at Yorkshire.
England Test captain Root says the racism scandal at his county side has "fractured our game and torn lives apart".
Root called for "change and actions".
But when asked if he had seen any racism at Yorkshire, Root said: "Not that I can recall, no... but it's clear things have happened at the club."
A report found former Yorkshire player Rafiq was a victim of "racial harassment and bullying" but the club said they would not discipline anyone.
Rafiq tweeted in response to Root's comments: "Disappointed is not even the feeling. Incredibly hurt. But uncomfortable truths are hard to accept it seems."
Root has spent his entire county career at Yorkshire, making his second-team debut in 2007 before progressing to the first team in 2009.
"I just want the sport to be a place where everyone is enjoying it for the beautiful game it is and feels equal and safe," said Root. "We need to educate, unify and reset.
"I want to see change and actions that will see Yorkshire County Cricket Club rise from this with a culture that harnesses a diverse environment with trust across all communities that support cricket in the county.
"I will reach out to YCCC new chair Lord Patel to offer support, however I'm able."
Rafiq, who was born in Pakistan and moved to England aged 10, played the majority of his career at Yorkshire, between 2008 and 2018.
He captained England teams at youth level and also captained Yorkshire in 2012.
He told BBC Sport he dreaded "every second" of his career and that a team-mate used a racially offensive term linked to his Pakistani heritage.
Yorkshire launched a formal investigation into Rafiq's allegations in September 2020 and the then chairman Roger Hutton said the club would be carrying out a "wider review" of their "policies and culture".
In August 2021, three days after Yorkshire received the findings of the independent report carried out by law firm Squire Patton Boggs, they admitted Rafiq was "the victim of inappropriate behaviour" - something Rafiq said was downplaying racism - and offered him their "profound apologies".
The report summary said Rafiq was the "victim of racial harassment and bullying", with seven of the 43 allegations upheld, although the club said they could not release the full report for legal reasons. They said there had been insufficient evidence to conclude the club were institutionally racist.
Rafiq questioned what punishments had been handed out to former players and a coach who had been found guilty of using racist language. He also questioned the validity of the investigation.
Root, who was talking at England's Ashes preparation camp in Queensland, Australia, added: "It hurts knowing this has happened at YCCC so close to home.
"It's my club that I care passionately about it. I've spent a lot of time reflecting.
"There is no debate about racism, no one side or other. It is simply intolerable."
Ex-Pakistan seamer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was the second first-team player to allege racism at Yorkshire, saying "systematic taunting" occurred at the club.
Former Yorkshire academy players Irfan Amjad and Tabassum Bhatti have since shared their experiences of suffering racism while at the club.
Rafiq and senior Yorkshire officials will give evidence at a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing on 16 November. Former Yorkshire chairman Hutton will be questioned by MPs, along with chief executive Mark Arthur.
Last Friday, Hutton was one of several board members to resign over the club's response to racism experienced by Rafiq.
On Monday, new chair Lord Patel said Rafiq "should be praised" for his bravery and "should never have been put through" Yorkshire's racism scandal.
On Tuesday, Yorkshire announced head coach Andrew Gale had been suspended as part of an investigation into a tweet he sent in 2010, and that director of cricket Martyn Moxon was absent from work because of a stress-related illness.
Root, who will lead England in the first Ashes Test on 8 December, added: "We have to find a way to move forward and make sure this never happens again. In my opinion, this is a societal issue and needs addressing further afield than just cricket.
"That being said, we, as a sport, all have to do more. How can we all help shape things moving forward positively? What can everyone from myself, the ECB, counties, players, officials and others in the sport do to improve the state of the game?
"I certainly don't have all the answers, but I think we need to educate more and earlier; we must call it out straight away and have our eyes and ears open more.
"Inclusivity, diversity and anti-discrimination is something over the past few years the England teams I have been involved in have spent a lot of time talking about and are very passionate about improving and making a big difference.
"It's a big part of our culture, and we want to celebrate our diversity. We are representing England, and in that, we are representing the multicultural society we live in. We want all the fans to be able to enjoy what we do on the field and feel proud about who's representing them."
3 September 2020: Yorkshire say they have launched a "formal investigation" into the claims made by Rafiq and chairman Roger Hutton says the club would be carrying out a "wider review" of their "policies and culture".
13 November 2020: Rafiq says he hopes to bring about "meaningful change" after giving his first statement to the inquiry.
15 December 2020: Rafiq files a legal claim against Yorkshire "claiming direct discrimination and harassment on the grounds of race, as well as victimisation and detriment as a result of trying to address racism at the club".
2 February 2021: Yorkshire threatens a lifetime ban for anyone found to have made threats against Rafiq or his family and legal team, after ESPN Cricinfo shows the club messages sent to Rafiq's legal firm.
17 June 2021: An employment tribunal case between Rafiq and his former club Yorkshire fails to find a resolution. The independent investigation into his racism allegations remains ongoing.
16 August 2021: Yorkshire receive the findings of an independent investigation into the racism allegations and, two days later, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) asks for a copy.
19 August 2021: Yorkshire, yet to release the findings of the report at this stage, admit Rafiq was "the victim of inappropriate behaviour" and offer him "profound apologies".
10 September 2021: Yorkshire release the findings of the report, which says Rafiq was the "victim of racial harassment and bullying" and seven of the 43 allegations made by the player were upheld by an independent panel.
According to Hutton, the report said there was "insufficient evidence to conclude that Yorkshire County Cricket Club is institutionally racist".
Yorkshire released a summary of the panel's report and recommendations, but said the full report could not be released for legal reasons "in relation to privacy law and defamation".
8 October 2021: Yorkshire miss a deadline to send the full report to Rafiq and his legal team after BBC Sport understands an employment judge ordered the club to release it in full by Friday, 8 October.
28 October 2021: Yorkshire say they carried out their own internal investigation after the findings in the report and concluded that "there is no conduct or action taken by any of its employees, players or executives that warrants disciplinary action".
2 November 2021: The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee calls on Hutton to appear before it to answer questions about Yorkshire's handling of a report into Rafiq's allegations of racism.
A story published by ESPN says the report had concluded that a racially offensive term used towards Rafiq was regarded as "banter".
Knight makes his comments after health secretary Sajid Javid calls for "heads to roll" at Yorkshire and said if the ECB did not take action "it's not fit for purpose". He further states in a Twitter post that the term allegedly used to describe Rafiq was "not banter".
The ECB announces it will conduct a "full" investigation into the situation.
Several sponsors, including primary sponsor Emerald Publishing and Yorkshire Tea, end their partnerships with Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
Current Yorkshire batter Gary Ballance releases a lengthy statement expressing regret for using a racial slur against former team-mate Rafiq.
4 November 2021: The ECB board suspends Yorkshire from hosting international matches.
Kit supplier Nike ends a four-year deal, announced in March 2021.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan says he was named in the report but "totally denies any allegation of racism".
5 November 2021: Yorkshire chairman Roger Hutton resigns over the club's response and apologises "unreservedly" to Rafiq. Two further board members also quit and a fourth will step down in the near future. Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford is appointed as a director and chair of the club.
Irfan Amjad, a former Yorkshire academy player, says he was racially abused by a member of staff at Yorkshire, aged 16.
9 November 2021: The government says it is ready to "step in" if Yorkshire and the ECB do not take "real action".
Another academy player Tabassum Bhatti says he suffered racist abuse at the club as a 14-year-old.
10 November 2021: Yorkshire say they will launch an investigation after the club's head of human resources calls a supporter "a coward" and accuses the fan - and Rafiq - of "waging a campaign" against the club on social media.
The nation has fallen silent to honour those who have lost their lives in conflict exactly 103 years after the end of the First World War.
From 11am, people across the UK observed a two-minute silence to mark Armistice Day.
Each year, the two-minute silence marks the end of the four-year conflict in 1918 where an agreement between Germany and the Allies was made "on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month".
The Duchess of Cornwall was at the 93rd Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey, which has been held in the grounds of the Abbey since November 1928.
Image:The Duchess of Cornwall observes a two minute silence at Westminster Abbey
Image:Camilla, left, met veterans and representatives from the Armed Forces during the 93rd Field of Remembrance
The Field of Remembrance fell silent at 11am with Camilla and hundreds of veterans from past conflicts standing motionless as the chimes of Big Ben rang out.
Advertisement
Moments before, the Dean of Westminster Dr David Hoyle had said prayers before those gathered and the Last Post sounded.
In Staffordshire, a service of remembrance took place at the National Memorial Arboretum on top of the Armed Forces Memorial, featuring readings, musical performances and wreath laying.
More from UK
Image:The Duchess of Cornwall has laid a cross at Westminster Abbey
Image:Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer lays a wreath at the war memorial at Euston Station in London
Image:Sir Keir Starmer speaks with a veteran after the short service outside Euston Station
Image:A military band play as people gather to observe a two minute silence at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has laid a wreath at the war memorial outside Euston Station in London.
The two-minute silence was also marked at the Scottish Parliament and by COP26 President Alok Sharma at the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and others also stood in silence at the UK pavilion at COP26.
Image:COP26 President Alok Sharma (front left) and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon observe a two minute during the COP26 climate summit
Image:People observe a two minute silence in Woking town centre, Surrey
Image:A two minute silence was observed at St Andrew's church in Plymouth, Devon
Holyrood's Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone led the two-minute silence in the Scottish Parliament alongside opposition leaders and Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
Prior to the silence, Ms Johnstone read a short extract from Laurence Binyon's Ode of Remembrance before The Last Post was played by a bugler.
Standing on the steps of parliament's garden lobby, Ms Johnstone then recited the Kohima Epitaph before SNP MSP played the flowers of the forest folk song on the bagpipes.
Image:People observe a two minute silence in Liverpool
A single gun fired at 11am from Edinburgh Castle, with members of the armed forces community joining local government officials for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Edinburgh Garden of Remembrance in Princes Street Gardens.
Rev Dr Karen Campbell, the Royal British Legion Scotland's National Padre, is leading the open-air service including the reading of Binyon's Lines and the Kohima Epitaph.
Wreaths are to be laid by Deputy Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, councillor Joan Griffiths and representatives from Legion Scotland, Poppyscotland and Veterans Scotland.
Image:The England national team observed the silence before beginning a training session
The ceremony also marks the centenary of the Royal British Legion Scotland.
England manager Gareth Southgate and the rest of the national football team observed the silence before beginning a training session at St George's Park in Burton-upon-Trent.
Armistice Day was disrupted last year and many remembered the nation's war dead from their homes as they were encouraged to stay there to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Boris Johnson has been forced into denying that Britain is a corrupt country and said MPs who broke the rules should be investigated and punished.
Speaking at the Cop26 conference in Glasgow, the prime minister repeatedly refused to apologise for his botched attempt to block the suspension of the Conservative MP Owen Paterson, a former cabinet minister, for breaching lobbying rules.
He defended the right of MPs to take second jobs, arguing that they had being doing outside work for hundreds of years and that it ultimately strengthened democracy. “I genuinely believe that the UK is not remotely a corrupt country, nor do I believe that our institutions are corrupt,” he said.
He appeared to criticise Sir Geoffrey Cox, the former attorney-general, for
UK Brexit minister Lord David Frost has called on Brussels to “stay calm and keep things in proportion” if the UK goes ahead with threats to suspend parts of the Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.
The UK is seeking to rewrite the agreement’s protocol for Northern Ireland, which left the region in the EU’s single market for goods in order to prevent the return of a north-south trade border on the island of Ireland.
The two sides have been in a stand-off for months over post-Brexit trade rules for the region, with the UK threatening to trigger Article 16, the safeguard clause either side can use if they believe the arrangement has caused “serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties” or the “diversion of trade”.
After inconclusive talks last week the EU’s Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic warned of “serious consequences” if the UK carried through its threats. These could include slowing cross-Channel trade with more intensive customs and health checks, or even ending the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which permits tariff- and quota-free goods trade between the EU and UK.
Sefcovic met EU ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss possible retaliatory measures that could be taken if Article 16 is triggered. The two sides will meet for a fourth round of talks on Friday.
During a visit to Washington DC, also on Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said she and US President Joe Biden shared the assessment that keeping the withdrawal agreement and sticking to the Northern Ireland protocol was important for peace and stability on the island of Ireland.
The EU had shown the “utmost flexibility” within the parameters of the protocol, she said, adding “it is important to stick to what we have agreed and signed together”.
Speaking in the House of Lords on Wednesday, Frost said triggering Article 16 to suspend some parts of the so-called Northern Ireland protocol was the UK’s “only option” if negotiations fail.
He said Brussels has suggested the UK can only take this action at the price of “massive and disproportionate retaliation”. He added: “I gently suggest that our European friends should stay calm and keep things in proportion. They might remind themselves that no government and no country has a greater interest in stability and security in Northern Ireland, in the Belfast Agreement, than we do.”
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist party, which is part of the Northern Ireland power-sharing executive, told the EU to focus on negotiations, not briefings, and urged Dublin to use its influence to squeeze more concessions out of Brussels for the benefit of Northern Ireland.
In a statement issued after a “useful” telephone conversation with Micheál Martin, Ireland’s Taoiseach, Donaldson said: “Brussels’ devotion and loyalty to the protocol should not overshadow the wider interests of peace and stability here.”
Donaldson has supported the use of Article 16 and wants the Irish Sea border scrapped. “We need to see progress or else the government must step in to safeguard the United Kingdom internal market,” he said. “Our opposition to the protocol remains resolute.”
Frost has said since July that the threshold has been reached to justify using Article 16 because of the economic and political disruption the protocol has caused.
But in an apparent softening of his tone on Wednesday, Frost insisted talks were continuing between the two sides and implied the UK was still weeks away from unilaterally suspending parts of the protocol.
“There is still a real opportunity to turn away from confrontation, to move beyond these current difficulties and put in place a new and better equilibrium,” Frost told peers.
He added: “There is more to do and I will certainly not give up on this process unless and until it is abundantly clear that nothing more can be done. We are certainly not there yet. If, however, we do in due course reach that point, the Article 16 safeguards will be our only option.”
In a warning shot at the EU, he added: “If the EU were to choose to react in a disproportionate way, and decide to aggravate the problems in Northern Ireland rather than reduce them, that is of course a matter for them.”
His remarks came as four senior Democratic congressmen in Washington published a joint statement warning that the UK’s threat to trigger Article 16 was “dangerous”.
“In threatening to invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol, the United Kingdom threatens to not only destabilise trade relations, but also that hard-earned peace. We call on the UK to abandon this dangerous path, and to commit to implementing the Northern Ireland protocol in full,” they said.
Additional reporting by James Politi in Washington
