Colum Eastwood blasts 'total mess' of Brexit and COVID-19 and warns of cross-border contact tracing difficulties

"If there is no deal on data sharing with the European Union by the end of this transition period there is a real risk that health services in Ireland won't be able to carry out cross-border contact tracing," he said, speaking in the British House of Commons this afternoon.

He added: "Brexit is a total mess of this government's making. The pandemic - COVID - is a mess and a crisis, made worse by this government's handling of it.

"Lives and livelihoods are at real risk because of the ineptitude of this government. When will people in Northern Ireland have some confidence that contact-tracing will be able to continue across the border?"

Robin Walker, Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), responding on behalf of the Secretary of State Brandon Lewis, who is in Ireland, said he did not believe cross-border contact tracing would be a problem.

"The honourable gentlemen makes an important point given the importance of north-south cooperation and east-west cooperation with the Republic of Ireland when it has come to dealing with the COVID pandemic.

"That is something we should absolutely continue to support. From the UK government's perspective we are clear that we will give data adequacy to the EU.

"We think there is absolutely no reason, given that we have all the legal instruments in place to meet their requirements, that there should not be a joint agreement on data adequacy."