Brexit: UK 'would rather negotiate with EU than trigger Article 16'

NI Secretary Brandon Lewis says negotiation is "the right thing to do"

The Northern Ireland secretary has said he believes conditions have been met to trigger Article 16 although the government wants to work with the EU to get a "sustainable" long-term solution.

Brandon Lewis said "good faith" was being shown to negotiate the best way forward.

It comes after a BBC News NI interview with the prime minister during which he did not rule out triggering Article 16.

Boris Johnson said he wanted the EU to present proposals to fix the protocol.

The Northern Ireland Protocol helps prevent checks along the land border between Northern Ireland (in the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (in the EU).

Article 16 allows parts of the deal to be temporarily set aside.

Mr Lewis told BBC's Sunday Politics programme that Article 16 conditions "have been met".

EU must 'come seriously to the table'

However he said while the government could trigger Article 16 and will not rule it out, they do not want to.

"We are showing our good faith in wanting to negotiate a proper, sustainable, solution by not actually triggering it," he said.

"We have continued through this year to see different issues come up and we take the view that we need to fix the underlying problems."

He said giving space for negotiation was "the right thing to do".

However he said the EU must come "seriously to the table to have a proper conversation about how to get those core principals to work".

Mr Lewis said issues included the "integral market of the UK" and the people and businesses in Northern Ireland being able to access products in the way they always have been able to do.

He said this needed to be done whilst protecting all strands of the Good Friday Agreement and taking responsibly for goods that are moving into the EU.

"We think we can do that but they (the EU) do need to come forward in a serious way to engage," he added.

He said that if people in Northern Ireland cannot get access to the goods they you need as a consumer or business then that is a problem that must be resolved.

Unionists have criticised the NI Protocol for effectively creating a border in the Irish Sea

On Saturday, the Republic of Ireland's foreign affairs minister said triggering Article 16 to override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol would be a "hugely problematic backward step".

Simon Coveney said it would be a "huge mistake" as attempts are made to build trust between the negotiating teams.

But he said it was unlikely the UK government would take the step.

• What's the Northern Ireland Protocol?

• DUP snubs second north-south meeting in days

• Labour leader calls on PM to step in over Protocol

The Northern Ireland Protocol is a post-Brexit trade arrangement which was agreed by the UK and the EU in order to avoid the reintroduction of a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Under the terms of the protocol, Northern Ireland must still apply EU single market rules at its ports, in order to avoid the need for checks along the Irish land border as goods enter the EU.

In practice, this means some products moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland have been subject to new checks, which has angered many unionists who feel this is damaging trade, supply lines and Northern Ireland's position within the UK.

Article 16 of the protocol allows the UK and the EU to suspend any part of the agreement that causes "economic, societal or environmental difficulties".

You can watch Sunday Politics on BBC One NI on Sunday or catch up on the iPlayer for the next 30 days.