Negotiations to reset the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU are going “to the wire”, a Cabinet Office minister has said.

“There is no final deal as yet. We are in the very final hours,” the UK’s lead negotiator Nick Thomas-Symonds told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.

On the possibility of a youth mobility scheme with the EU, he insisted “nothing is agreed until everything is”.

“We would be open to a smart, controlled youth mobility scheme,” he said. “But I should set out, we will not return to freedom of movement.”

Politics latest: PM outlines ‘benefits’ for UK from closer EU ties

The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday.

Put to the minister that the government could not guarantee there will be a deal by tomorrow afternoon, Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “Nobody can guarantee anything when you have two parties in a negotiation.”

But the minister said he remained “confident” a deal could be reached “that makes our borders more secure, is good for jobs and growth, and brings people’s household bills down”.

“That is what is in our national interest and that’s what we will continue to do over these final hours,” he said.

“We have certainly been taking what I have called a ruthlessly pragmatic approach.”

On agricultural products, food and drink, Mr Thomas-Symonds said supermarkets were crying out for a deal because the status quo “isn’t working”, with “lorries stuck for 16 hours and food rotting” and producers and farmers unable to export goods because of the amount of “red tape”.

Asked how much people could expect to save on shopping as a result of the deal the government was hoping to negotiate, the minister was unable to give a figure.

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On the issue of fishing, asked if a deal would mean allowing French boats into British waters, the minister said the Brexit deal which reduced EU fishing in UK waters by a quarter over five years comes to an end next year.

He said the objectives now included “an overall deal in the interest of our fishers, easier access to markets to sell our fish and looking after our oceans”.

Turning to borders, the minister was asked if people would be able to move through queues at airports faster.

Again, he could not give a definitive answer, but said it was “certainly something we have been pushing with the EU… we want British people who are going on holiday to be able to go and enjoy their holiday, and not be stuck in queues”.

PM opens door to EU youth mobility scheme

A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.

The European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK on an agreement to facilitate youth mobility between the EU and the UK. The scheme would allow both UK and EU citizens aged between 18 and 30 years old to stay for up to four years in a country of their choosing.

Earlier this month, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Phillips a youth mobility scheme was not the approach the government wanted to take to bring net migration down.

When this was put to him, Mr Thomas-Symonds insisted any deal on a youth mobility scheme with Europe will have to be “smart” and “controlled” and will be “consistent” with the government’s immigration policy.

Asked what the government had got in return for a youth mobility scheme – now there had been a change in approach – the minister said: “It is about an overall balanced package that works for Britain. The government is 100% behind the objective of getting net migration down.”

Phillips said more than a million young people came to the country between 2004 and 2015. “If there isn’t a cap – that’s what we are talking about,” he said.

The minister insisted such a scheme would be “controlled” – but refused to say whether there would be a cap.

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‘It’s going to be a bad deal’

Shadow cabinet office minister Alex Burghart told Phillips an uncapped youth mobility scheme with the EU would lead to “much higher immigration”, adding: “It sounds very much as though it’s going to be a bad deal.”

Asked if the Conservatives would scrap any EU deal, he said: “It depends what the deal is, Trevor. And we still, even at this late stage, we don’t know.

“The government can’t tell us whether everyone will be able to come. They can’t tell us how old the young person is. They can’t tell us what benefits they would get.

“So I think when people hear about a youth mobility scheme, they think about an 18-year-old coming over working at a bar. But actually we may well be looking at a scheme which allows 30-year-olds to come over and have access to the NHS on day one, to claim benefits on day one, to bring their extended families.”

He added: “So there are obviously very considerable disadvantages to the UK if this deal is done in the wrong way.”

Jose Manuel Barroso, former EU Commission president, told Phillips it “makes sense” for a stronger relationship to exist between the European Union and the UK, adding: “We are stronger together.”

He said he understood fishing and youth mobility are the key sticking points for a UK-EU deal.

“Frankly, what is at stake… is much more important than those specific issues,” he said.

At least 103 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza overnight and into Sunday, according to hospitals and medics.

Israel has launched an escalation of its war in Gaza to ramp up pressure on Hamas, seize territory, displace Palestinians to the south and take greater control over the distribution of aid.

Meanwhile, Israel says talks with Hamas taking place in Qatar this weekend involve discussions on ending the war as well as a truce and hostage deal.

Addressing the strikes overnight, a spokesperson for the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said: “Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by Israeli bombardment”.

The ministry also said airstrikes had forced the closure of the Indonesian Hospital, the main hospital serving people in northern Gaza.

Nasser hospital, in the southern city of Khan Younis, said more than 48 people – mostly women and children – were killed in the area, including tents sheltering displaced people.

In Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, at least 12 people were killed in three separate strikes, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital and the Nuseirat camp’s Awda hospital.

Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry and the Palestinian Civil Defence – which operates under the Hamas-run government – reported that 19 people were killed in multiple strikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the latest strikes.

Peace talks include ending war in Gaza

It comes as peace talks between Israel and Hamas continue in Qatar this weekend, including discussions about ending the war.

A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said on Sunday that any lasting truce must include the demilitarisation of Gaza as well as the exile of Hamas militants.

But a senior Israeli official added that the talks in the capital, Doha, had made little progress so far.

Sky News Arabia reported that Hamas had proposed freeing about half its Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

A Palestinian official close to the discussions said: “Hamas is flexible about the number of hostages it can free, but the problem has always been over Israel’s commitment to end the war.”

Four journalists killed in Israeli airstrikes

Details have emerged on Sunday about the deaths of four Palestinian journalists in Gaza following Israeli airstrikes.

Abdel Rahman al Abadleh was missing for two days before his body was found in the town of al Qarara in southern Gaza.

Three other journalists were also killed following strikes on Saturday. Aziz al Hajjar, his wife and children, died in the Bir al Naaja neighbourhood of northern Gaza.

Ahmed al Zenati, his wife Noor al Madhoun and their children Mohammad and Khaled, were killed in Khan Younis.

Meanwhile, in Deir al Balah, central Gaza, Nour Qandil, her husband Khaled Abu Seif, and their young daughter were also killed.

Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March. It is attempting to pressurise Hamas into freeing Israeli hostages and has approved plans that could involve seizing the whole of Gaza and controlling aid.

‘Systematic campaign targeting hospitals’

Earlier on Sunday, Gaza’s health ministry issued a statement accusing Israel of “intensifying its systematic campaign to target hospitals”.

“After putting the European Gaza Hospital out of service a few days ago, the Israeli occupation has intensified its targeting and siege of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip since dawn today,” it added.

Israel has previously denied deliberately targeting civilians and accused Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes.

This week, Israel said it had bombed the European Hospital because it was home to an underground Hamas base, but Sky News analysis has cast doubt on its evidence.

Houthis launch missile towards Israel

Separately, the Israeli military said on Sunday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen towards Israel.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they had targeted Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv with two ballistic missiles.

The Houthis have fired at Israel because of the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, while Israel has carried out airstrikes in response, including one on 6 May that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa and killed several people.

The war in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others.

Israel’s military response has killed more than 53,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Russia has launched its heaviest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022, the Ukrainian military has said.

A total of 273 exploding drones were reportedly fired across the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Some 88 were intercepted and 128 “lost”, having been electronically jammed, Ukraine’s air force said.

It passes the previous record of 267 drones on the eve of the war’s third anniversary earlier this year.

In Kyiv, a 28-year-old woman was killed, and three people, including a four-year-old child were injured, according to regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk.

Just outside the city, firefighters fought to control flames at business premises destroyed by drone attacks. Russia has not commented.

It comes ahead of a planned phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Mr Trump has promised to speak to Mr Putin and then President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday about “ending the war” after the first direct talks between their two countries failed to yield a ceasefire this week.

Mr Putin snubbed Mr Zelenskyy’s offer of face-to-face talks in Turkey.

A source from the Ukrainian negotiation team told Sky News that Russia threatened “eternal war” during talks between officials.

Kremlin representatives are also reported to have threatened that Ukraine may lose “more than just loved ones” while at the negotiating table.

Talks did bring promise of the largest ever prisoner swap between the two nations – involving 1,000 prisoners of war on each side.

Ukraine’s military intelligence chief said he hoped it would take place over the next week.

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Elsewhere in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, on Saturday, nine people were killed and seven injured after a bus evacuating civilians was hit by a Russian drone in the town of Bilopillia, according to Ukrainian officials.

On Sunday, Mr Zelenskyy was in Vatican City attending the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV.

He was pictured shaking hands with US Vice President JD Vance after their tense clash at the White House earlier this year.