The Brexit standoff looks set to continue, yet both sides need it to end | Anand Menon

The EU has made an offer to cut the checks on British trade with Northern Ireland. There's a chance Johnson might accept it

After days of rising tensions, the European Union has agreed to drop most checks on supermarket goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Britain. But it still fears that Boris Johnson will reject the new offer.

According to Britain's Brexit negotiator Lord Frost, speaking on Tuesday, the Northern Ireland protocol is not working - either in terms of its impact on trade or in terms of the hostility towards it from parts of the unionist population.