UK Delays Post-Brexit Border Checks, Seeks New Talks with EU

LONDON - Britain said Monday it is postponing the start of post-Brexit border checks on goods going to Northern Ireland, as it seeks breathing space in its tense standoff with the European Union over trade rules. 

Brexit Minister David Frost said the government would continue to trade "on the current basis," maintaining grace periods that the U.K. gave itself after splitting from the EU's economic embrace at the end of 2020. He did not set a new end date for the grace periods, some of which had been set to finish on September 30.  Frost said the standstill would "provide space for potential further discussions" with the EU over the two sides' deep differences on the Brexit divorce agreement.  U.K.-EU relations have soured over trade arrangements for Northern Ireland, the only part of the U.K. that has a land border with the 27-nation bloc. The divorce deal the two sides struck before Britain's departure means customs and border checks must be conducted on some goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.