FIRST minister Mark Drakeford is due to meet with other British and Irish leaders in the Channel Islands today.

Guernsey is hosting the British & Irish summit which brings together leaders from the countries of the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Mann and the Republic of Ireland.

All eyes will be on who attends to represent the UK government, while it and the Irish Government could also discuss the Northern Ireland protocol which has been a bone of contention as the UK has threatened changes to the deal it struck with the European Union over the land border in Ireland.

The summit is the first meeting of UK first ministers, chief ministers and the Irish taoiseach after the Boris Johnson announced he would resign as Conservative leader and paving the way for a new UK prime minister.

The Welsh Government, Drakeford has said, wants a focus on the protocol and relations with the EU along with the cost-of-living crisis and support for people from Ukraine at the summit.

Drakeford said those should also be the focus of the UK Government at the talks.

He said: "We are here to do the serious business of working together to make things better for the people in our respective nations and islands.

“We will focus on the cost-of-living crisis, the relationship between the UK and the EU, particularly in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol and we’ll talk about the actions taken to welcome people from Ukraine.

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“This is what the UK Government should be focusing on. What we have seen over recent months has not just been about the fate of one person, it has been about the collapse of decent and effective government in London. We all deserve better.”

Yesterday, following Johnson's announcement he would step down, taoiseach Micheal Martin said he was hopefull of a chance to "reset" his country's relationship with the UK.

“I wish him and his family the very best for the future,” Martin said in Dublin.

“From our perspective, Britain is our closest neighbour.

“It’s extremely important that we have a very strong, deep-rooted relationship economically, socially, culturally and of course, in terms of the respective government’s role as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement.

“It’s fair to say that over the last while that relationship has come under strain, and there have been significant challenges, and I believe opportunities may now arise to reset that relationship.

“Particularly, to avoid unilateralism and to pull back from the unilateralism that has been evident in respect of legacy in respect of the human rights as enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights and unilateralism in terms of the protocol itself, in terms of the legislation.”

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