This EU-UK summit has for months been openly billed by Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street as a hugely significant moment for this government.

The Labour leader promised in his 2024 election manifesto that the UK would sign a new security pact with the EU to strengthen cooperation and improve the UK’s trading relationship with the continent.

Since winning power in July, he has embarked on a charm offensive across European capitals in a bid to secure that better post-Brexit deal.

Monday is when the PM makes good on those promises at a historic summit at Lancaster House in London.

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There, the EU and UK are expected to sign a security and defence partnership, which has taken on a new sense of urgency since the arrival of President Trump in the White House.

It is an agreement that will symbolise the post-Brexit reset, with the PM, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa also signing off on a communique pledging deeper economic cooperation.

But, rather like the torturous Brexit negotiations I covered for years in London and Brussels under Conservative prime ministers, Sir Keir’s post-Brexit reset went down to the wire.

Discussions continued over night as the two sides snared up over details around fisheries, food trade and youth mobility.

It’s not that both sides did not want the reset: the war in Ukraine and the spectre of the US becoming an unreliable partner have pushed London and Brussels closer together in their common defence interest.

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Fishing and youth mobility – the two snags

But the pressure for this deal weighed more heavily on our prime minister than his European colleagues. He’s been talking for months about securing a reset and better trading relationship with the EU to bolster the UK economy.

His need to demonstrate wins is why, suggests one continental source, the Europeans let talks go to the wire, with London and Brussels in a tangle over fishing rights – key demands of France and the Netherlands – and a youth mobility scheme, which is a particular focus for Berlin.

In the end, the UK allowed EU fishing boats access to British waters 12 years.

“The British came with 50 asks, we came with two – on fishing and the youth mobility scheme,” says one European source.

EU sources say Brussels had offered a time-limited deal to lift checks on animal products – replicating London’s offer on fisheries – but the UK is reluctant to do this as it leaves too much uncertainty for farmers and supermarkets.

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A deal on food products, known as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) goods, would be a boost for the economy, with potentially up to 80% of border checks disappearing, given the breadth of products – paint, fashion goods, leather as well as foods – with an animal component.

Any deal also means the UK would have to align with rules made in Brussels and make a financial contribution to the EU to fund work on food and animal standards.

Both elements will trigger accusations of Brexit “betrayal”, as the UK signs up as a “rule taker” and finds itself paying back into the EU for better access.

Government figures had been telling me how they are more than prepared to face down the criticisms thrown at them from the Conservatives.

But sensitivities around fishing, particularly in Scotland, where Labour is facing elections next year, weighed on talks.

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The other area of huge tension was over a youth mobility scheme, which would enable young adults from member states to study and work in the UK and vice versa.

Government sources familiar with the talks acknowledge some sort of scheme will be included, but want details to be vague – I’m told it might be “an agreement about a future agreement”, while the EU sees this a one of its two core demands.

In talks late on Sunday night, the UK government appeared to be softening on re-opening the pre-Brexit Erasmus student exchange scheme as perhaps a way to get around the impasse, according to one EU source.

The UK rejoining this scheme had been rebuffed by Sir Keir last year, but was raised again last night in talks, according to a source.

Common ground on defence and security

Wherever the economic horsetrading lands, the two sides have found common ground in recent months is on defence and security, with the UK working in lockstep with European allies over Ukraine and relationships deepening in recent months as Sir Keir Starmer has worked with President Macron and others to try to smooth tensions between Kyiv and Washington and work on a European peace deal for Ukraine.

The expectation is that the two sides will sign a security partnership that will reiterate the UK’s commitment to build up the continent’s defence capability and stand united against Russian aggression with its partners.

The deal should also mean British arms companies will be able to access the EU’s €150bn rearmament programme, which has been set up to create a massive surge in defence spending over the next five years as Europe prepares itself to better repel threats.

It is clearly in neither side’s interest for Monday to go wrong.

The EU and UK need to maintain a united front and, more importantly for Keir Starmer domestically, the PM needs to show an increasingly sceptical public he can deliver on his promises.

Easing trade barriers with Britain’s biggest trading partner and signing an EU defence pact would be two manifesto promises delivered.

And with his popularity sinking to a record low in recent days, he could really do with a win.

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.”

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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.

Gary Lineker is to leave the BBC after this season’s final Match Of The Day and will no longer present its coverage of the World Cup, Sky News understands.

It comes after he “apologised unreservedly” for a social media repost featuring a rat – used in propaganda by Nazi Germany to dehumanise Jewish people – and said he would “never knowingly share anything antisemitic”.

Lineker’s last appearance on the BBC will be on 25 May, the final day of the season, with confirmation expected on Monday.

The former England star announced in November he would step down from Match Of The Day this year, but was set to return to front the World Cup in 2026, as well as FA Cup coverage.

Lineker, 64, said he was unaware the post he shared was antisemitic and it went against “everything I believe in”.

In response to the presenter resharing the post, the Campaign Against Antisemitism said his “continued association with the BBC is untenable”.

And when asked about Lineker last week, BBC director general Tim Davie said: “When someone makes a mistake, it costs the BBC reputationally.”

The presenter was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 after an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the then Conservative government’s asylum policy.

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Lineker has hosted Match Of The Day since 1999 and has been the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years. He also has a successful podcast production company.

Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan will take over the highlights show from next season.

When the trio take over as hosts, it will be the first time the role has been shared by three people.

Sky News has contacted the BBC for comment.