The UK's top negotiator David Frost said that Brexit talks between the government and the European Union were “paused slightly” by the coronavirus pandemic and were behind schedule by one to two weeks, as members of the negotiating teams took ill.

“When the crisis first hit us in a major way during March, we lost the second round that had been planned for the middle of March, and as illness hit various members of the team, there was a pause for a time,” Frost, the prime minister’s chief Europe adviser told MPs during a 27 May evidence session.