UK plans to unilaterally scrap some of the post-Brexit border rules in Northern Ireland will not break international law, a minister insisted this morning, as Boris Johnson prepares to hold crunch talks with Stormont political leaders.

       The Prime Minister will visit Belfast today as he tries to plot a path to getting the powersharing Executive up and running amid a standoff at the Assembly over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

       Mr Johnson will meet with the leaders of Sinn Fein, the DUP and other political parties to try to sooth tensions as he prepares to approve a law which would give ministers the power to override key parts of the Brexit agreement.

       The PM has said he will "always keep the door wide open to genuine dialogue" with Brussels but if the EU does not show more flexibility on making changes to the protocol then "there will be a necessity to act".

       The EU has warned the Government it could be in breach of international law if it acts on its own, but Rachel Maclean, a Home Office minister, has insisted "the UK is a country that always lives up to its international legal obligations".

       Meanwhile, Julian Smith, the Tory former Northern Ireland secretary, cautioned against unilateral action and said: "I think we do need the EU and UK negotiators to spend some positive time in a locked room and come up with a deal. We need a political deal, we need a fudge.”

       ？？Follow the latest updates below.

       Labour has now responded to the suggestion from Rachel Maclean, a Home Office minister, that people could protect themselves from cost of living pressures by finding a "better paid job" (see the post below at 08.47).

       Tulip Siddiq, the shadow economic secretary to the Treasury, said: "This Tory government could not be more out of touch or out of ideas. As energy bills rise by record amounts for millions of families, comments like this are ridiculous - as is the Prime Minister's refusal to back a windfall tax on oil and gas producer profits that could tackle the cost of living crisis.

       “Tomorrow, Labour will give this Conservative government another chance to support our windfall tax. Britain needs a government that is on working people’s side. Only Labour can tackle the cost of living crisis and deliver the stronger economy we need.”

       Mel Stride, the senior Tory MP, was asked if he believed the Bank of England's recent failures on accurately forecasting inflation had put its independence in jeopardy.

       The chairman of the Treasury Select Committee told the BBC: “I certainly hope not because one of the really good moves in the last 25 years has been that the Bank has been independent so it is not politicians who are setting interest rates, not politicians that are setting those rates in line with the political cycle, trying to stoke up the economy ready for a general election.

       “We do need an independent central bank.”

       Mel Stride, the Tory chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, has criticised the Bank of England for failing to see that the UK labour market was becoming "overheated".

       He told the BBC: “The area where you can really criticise the Bank… is around what has happened in the labour market which has become very overheated and I think we are now in the foothills of a wage price spiral with wages chasing higher prices, leading to higher wages in turn.

       “There I think the Bank of England and the Monetary Policy Committee have been rather slow off the mark and I think that is going to lead to a requirement for a more aggressive monetary policy going forward than would otherwise have been the case had we nipped that in the bud.”

       Cabinet ministers recently turned on the Bank of England over rising inflation, with one warning that the Bank had been failing to "get things right" and another suggesting that it had failed a "big test" (you can read the full story here).

       Mel Stride, the Tory chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, was asked this morning during an interview on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme if he agreed the bank had failed on inflation.

       He said: “Undoubtedly if you look at the headline figures, having a target of two per cent and moving up to be on 10 per cent this autumn as is forecast is not a good look.

       “But I think it is fair to say that we are not unique in that position. There are a number of countries around the world, the US and Spain in the Eurozone, for example, have worse inflation than we do at the moment.”

       Mel Stride, the Tory chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, made a significant intervention this morning as he said he believes there is now a "case" for looking at imposing a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas giants to help tackle the cost of living crisis.

       Labour and the Lib Dems have repeatedly called for the tax but there is now a trickle of Tories who are pushing for the move. The Government has not ruled out the tax in the future but stressed it is against doing it now, with Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, saying yesterday that the policy is a "bad idea".

       Mr Stride told the BBC: “I think you have to take a balanced view of all these things. Kwasi is absolutely right that in principle putting up taxes unannounced, effectively retrospectively just puts a large sign up that says ‘not a good place to invest’ and we don’t want to do that.

       “At the same time we are in extraordinary circumstances. The supernormal profits that these companies have made are vast and I personally think there is a case now for looking at a one-off windfall tax and channelling that money in towards those who are really struggling and are bearing the brunt of these cost of living challenges.”

       The Liberal Democrats have accused Rachel Maclean, a Home Office minister, of "blaming people for not earning enough" after she suggested one way to alleviate cost of living pressures is for people to move to a "better paid job" (see the post below at 08.47).

       Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dems' work and pensions spokeswoman, said: "So the Conservatives' answer to the cost of living emergency is that people should just earn more? This shows just how out of touch they truly are.

       “Millions of families have had to make huge cutbacks and taken on extra work in order to weather the cost of living crisis. They simply cannot do any more.

       "Instead of blaming people for not earning enough, ministers should take real action to help families and pensioners now - by slashing VAT to give people ￡600 back in their pockets and putting a windfall tax on oil and gas companies to bring energy bills down."

       Julian Smith, the Tory former Northern Ireland secretary, said the UK and the EU should lock their negotiators in a room in order to negotiate a "fudge" to fix problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol.

       Cautioning against unilateral action, he told the BBC: “I think there is a landing zone where east/west checks are more or less removed, where the regulatory divergence, the challenges that come of UK goods and EU goods in the same Northern Ireland market that there can be fudges there.

       “I think we do need the EU and UK negotiators to spend some positive time in a locked room and come up with a deal. We need a political deal, we need a fudge.”

       Julian Smith, a senior Tory MP and the former Northern Ireland secretary, said the EU needs to "go the extra mile" and be more flexible in talks with the UK if a compromise deal on post-Brexit border checks is to be found.

       He told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme that many unionists want to see "significant change" made to the protocol.

       He said: ？“We need that to be done in a negotiated way, we need the EU to go the extra mile, they didn’t do that when I was government chief whip and we were looking for flexibilities under the Theresa May deal and we now need them to be flexible.

       “But we also need our government, I think, to focus on negotiation.”

       Home Office minister Rachel Maclean admitted working more hours is not suitable advice for someone who is already "working in three jobs" as she clarified her comments on the cost of living crisis (see the post below at 08.47).

       She said: "It may be right for some people, they may be able to access additional hours but of course it is not going to work for people who are already working in three jobs.

       "That is why we need to have the other measures in place such as all the help we are putting into the schools, the help that the local authorities, help and support that I have already measured, and these are where we are going to target the help where it is most needed."

       Rachel Maclean, a Home Office minister, was told that some people are already working "every hour that God sends them" but they are still reliant on food banks as she was asked about her "better paid job" comments (see the post below at 08.47).

       Told that it is not as straightforward as simply working more for many people, Ms Maclean told Sky News: "I am not suggesting that for one moment, but we have often heard in the past when people are facing problems with their budgets that one of the obstacles, and it may not be for everybody, is about being able to take on more hours or even move to a better paid job.

       "But of course it is an individual situation depending on that particular family's situation but that is why the Job Centres exist, that's why the work coaches exist, that's why we put the support into those job centres to work with individuals their own individual situation."

       Rachel Maclean, a Home Office minister, has suggested that in the long term the answer to cost of living pressures is for people to find a better paid job or to work more hours.

       She told Sky News: "I think what we need to focus on now is over the long term, we have got these short term pressures that we are all aware of and that your families in Wigan are seeing, but over the long term we need to have a plan to grow the economy and make sure that people are able to protect themselves better, whether that is by taking on more hours or moving to a better paid job.

       "These are long term actions but that is what we are focused on as a government."

       While the UK Government has now stated plainly it is preparing to act unilaterally on the Northern Ireland Protocol, Boris Johnson has also stressed he is open to "genuine dialogue" continuing with the EU in the hope of agreeing a negotiated settlement.

       Rachel Maclean, a Home Office minister, said the UK is still hoping to "see some movement" from Brussels.

       She told Sky News: “All of the parties in the recent elections have called for changes to be made to the protocol, everyone acknowledges that it is not working, so that is why it is really important that we see, hopefully we see some movement from the EU, but the Prime Minister has been clear that nothing is off the table.”

       Boris Johnson is expected this week to approve a law which would enable the UK Government to unilaterally scrap parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol (you can read the full story here).

       The prospect of the Government acting on its own is likely to reignite warnings from the EU that the UK could end up in breach of international law if it goes ahead with overriding parts of the Brexit deal it struck with Brussels.

       Rachel Maclean, a Home Office minister, insisted this morning that the UK will not break the law, telling Sky News: “Of course there are always going to be measures that have to be negotiated and I think that is the point of a negotiation with our European partners.

       “This has been going on at pace with officials, with our interlocutors on the European side and as far as the subsequent actions that are going to be taken, a lot of it is speculation.

       “But of course the UK is a country that always lives up to its international legal obligations and we will continue to do that.”

       Good morning and welcome to today's politics live blog.

       Boris Johnson is heading to Northern Ireland for crunch talks with Stormont political leaders as he tries to plot a path to getting the powersharing Executive up and running.

       The standoff over the Northern Ireland Protocol will dominate discussions after the Government announced it intends to act unilaterally to suspend some post-Brexit border checks if the EU continues to refuse to budge on making changes.

       It could be a day of high drama and I will guide you through the key developments.

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