NI Protocol: Sinn Féin and DUP disagree over NI Protocol plans

The UK government has published plans to get rid of parts of the post-Brexit deal it signed with the EU.

It wants to change the Northern Ireland Protocol to make it easier for some goods to flow from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

But the EU opposes the move, saying that going back on the deal breaches international law.

The UK government disputes this, arguing that the changes will mean the United Kingdom stays together.

The protocol is the part of the Brexit deal which keeps Northern Ireland inside the European Union's (EU) single market for goods.

It prevents a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.

But it means checks on some goods arriving from other parts of the UK.

Sinn Féin's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill accused the prime minister of creating more instability and uncertainty in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Féin won the most seats in the recent assembly elections.

The DUP, which won the second-highest number of seats, has said it will not form a power-sharing executive with Sinn Féin until the protocol is amended.

It argues that as it stands, the rules create a divide that could lead to the break-up of the UK.

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