According to a No.10 Downing Street spokesperson, UK PM Boris Johnson met with Irish PM Michael Martin earlier on Wednesday and raised concerns about the substantial gap that remains between the UK and EU regarding Northern Ireland.

The two PMs agreed that an agreement on the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocal (NIP) was the preferred outcome and the UK and EU would thus continue to work hard to achieve this.

However, the spokesperson said that the UK would be left with no choice but to use the safeguard measures under Article 16 of the NIP if talks did not deliver a rebalanced outcome soon. 

Market Reaction

GBP hasn't seen a notable reaction to the latest round of jawboning from the UK over the NIP, with EUR/GBP continuing to trade in subdued fashion around the 0.8400 area.