UK ministers meet representatives of NI paramilitaries to discuss Brexit

The Brexit minister, Lord Frost, and the Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, met representatives of loyalist paramilitaries on Monday during a visit to Northern Ireland, it has emerged.

The Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), a body which includes representatives of the UVF, UDA and Red Hand Commando paramilitary groups, confirmed a “small delegation” of its members met the ministers on Monday to discuss continuing concerns over checks on goods coming into the region from Great Britain caused by Brexit.

“The delegation emphasised the need for significant change to the Northern Ireland protocol to bring it back into consistency with the Belfast agreement and to remove the clear change in the status of Northern Ireland that has occurred due to the imposition of the protocol,” it said.

“Members advised Lord Frost of the efforts they had to make to try and calm the wider unionist community and appealed to him to ensure that the prime minister honoured his commitments to seek, and if necessary unilaterally legislate, to reach an agreement on a workable alternative.”

Downing Street said it was important to “engage widely” with communities in Northern Ireland. Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “The UK government regularly meets with groups and individuals from across all parts of the community and it is important we hear a diverse range of views. We are going to continue to engage widely to ensure that the UK government is able to meet its objectives in Northern Ireland.”

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The meeting came before a statement on Tuesday by Frost hinting that unilateral action over the Brexit protocols was an option if the current round of talks with Brussels over the border checks did not result in a mutually agreeable outcome.

He urged the EU to take a “commonsense, risk-based approach” to the Northern Ireland protocol, saying the way it was operating was not sustainable.

The EU said the checks were a consequence of Johnson’s Brexit and of the deal he signed on the Northern Ireland protocol. Insiders also said the UK had, in talks, recently ruled out a food standards deal tying the UK to the EU regulations, which would have reduced checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea into Northern Ireland by 90%.

The LCC is also seeking a meeting with European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, “to ensure that he understands how the Belfast agreement has been breached by the protocol”.