By Alistair Smout BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) – The prospects for the Northern Ireland protocol seem to be improving as the United Kingdom tries to renegotiate part of the Brexit deal with the European Union and re-establish the province’s devolved assembly, a British minister said on Sunday. The event at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, central England, saw a softening in tone from some former hardliners in the dispute with the EU, matching a shift from the foreign minister James Cleverly, who is leading talks. “I understand the complications and maybe we could have understo…