For days now politicians in Ireland and the EU have been expecting UK Brexit negotiator David Frost to trigger Article 16, pausing the Northern Ireland protocol and creating a fresh crisis for EU-UK relations. But today Lord Frost made more diplomatic noises, saying negotiations had made some progress and still have longer to run. But if the threat was real, why the sudden reversal? Denis Staunton gives his analysis of UK government behaviour, and Pat Leahy explains how its being viewed here and in Brussels.

Plus, the latest from Cop26 in Glasgow and Boris Johnson's sleaze crisis.

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