Indeed, if the UK were to unilaterally suspend parts of the deal, Mr Coveney insisted the EU would regard the move as a "serious breach of good faith". Although he recognised a change of tone from the UK, he also claimed a large gap remains between the two sides. He said: "They are effectively suggesting that if they can't get the compromise they are looking for from the EU they may act unilaterally and use Article 16 to set aside elements of the protocol that they don't believe are necessary.

       "I don't believe that the EU will respond well to that. In fact, I know they won't.

       "They will respond very robustly and they will regard it as a fairly serious breach of good faith."

       Talks will resume on Friday but Lord Frost has insisted the threshold for using Article 16 remains.

       UK officials, such as Micheal Gove, hope an agreement can be made before the end of the year in order to secure a solution to the supply of medicines to Northern Ireland.