Image source, Sky News

Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith accused the EU of looking to prevent the UK from being a sovereign nation with the trade terms it has offered.

He told Sky News earlier: "When the UK voted to leave the European Union, they did so to be a sovereign nation controlling its own laws, its own powers and its own regional areas, its waters.

"What the European Union is determined to do is to stop that and their proposals at the moment are unacceptable to any sovereign nation."

The Andrew Marr Show

Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Micheal Martin tells BBC One's Andrew Marr Show it's "imperative" that the UK and EU reach a trade deal.

If this doesn't happen it would be "damaging to workers" in the UK, Ireland and elsewhere, he adds.

Such an outcome would also represent "an appalling failure of statecraft", Martin says.

With some "creativity" a resolution can be found, he argues.

Image source, Sky News

Meanwhile Spain's foreign minister, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, has been telling Sky News a no-deal outcome to the post-Brexit trade talks should be avoided "at all costs".

"No-deal in the current circumstances would be extremely negative for our economies," she said.

"And if you go by what economists are saying... the UK would suffer even more than the European Union.

"We both will suffer, more on the UK side, which I think is something we should try to avoid at all costs."

Any post-Brexit trade deal would need to be approved by the 27 EU member states, including Spain.

Image source, Sky News

A Brexit trade deal between the UK and the EU could still be reached by the end of the year, Britain's former ambassador to the EU has said.

Sir Ivan Rogers told Sky News it was unlikely an agreement between both sides would be reached today.

But he added: "It's a very different question as to whether we get it by the end of the year.

"I think it's odds against today, but I'm not sure the talks will break down today either.

"Most of these deadlines in Brexit over many years have carried on being broken and I suspect this might be the latest, but we will see."

Raab tells Sky News that if the EU follows through on its commitments a free trade deal "ought to be doable" and the UK wants to do a deal if it is possible.

But he also points out positives - saying multinationals are choosing the UK for their headquarters and that there are opportunities for trade deals with nations like India.

He claims that the "point of pressure" for the EU is now, ahead of the 31 December deadline and that the idea it can extract concessions from the UK after that date "is for the birds".

Image source, Getty Images

Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director-general Tony Danker says both sides need to be "deeply practical" – and remove the immediate threat of a damaging cliff edge.

But he adds: "With less than three weeks to go, we also need to plan in parallel for 1 January, deal or no-deal.

“That means everything from border systems and processes to data adequacy and financial services equivalence.

"It also means allowing sensible grace periods for businesses to adapt to re-labelling of products and phasing-in of border checks."

Image source, Sky News

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab repeats to Sky News his belief that the EU is "nervous that the UK could actually do rather well, that we may actually thrive".

He adds: "That's not a grubby thing for them to be concerned about, but of course we can't pretend we're not going to make the very best of Brexit.

"But they're also worried about the message it sends within the EU," he says. "We understand those equities.

"But actually at the end of the day, there's a win-win here and that's what we're striving for."

Asked if talks could go beyond Sunday, Raab says "I can't close the door on it".

But, he adds, the EU needs to provide reassurance on the two stumbling blocks - fisheries and the so-called level playing field (see our handy glossary of Brexit terms to read more on what this is).

"Of course if we're 99% there on the outstanding issues you wouldn't want to leave - as I say - any stone unturned," he adds.

"But I think it is quite a high bar."

Image source, Sky News

Asked why negotiators are finding it so hard to strike a trade deal, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tells Sky News it is because "it's been difficult".

"I’ve been at this a while now," he tells Niall Paterson, who is presenting Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme today.

"I think The EU is concerned that actually Britain might do rather well when we leave the EU and is worried about the competitive advantage."

He says the final conversation between PM Boris Johnson and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will happen "later on today" - but he doesn't have an exact time.

The technical talks "really matter", says Raab - but he says "what ultimately is required is moving the political logjam" and that can only happen through talks between the two leaders.

Image source, SKY NEWS

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tells Sky News there is "still a long way to go" as post-Brexit trade talks with the EU continue.

He says that "we've been at it very hard" to secure technical details but what really matters is what is possible at a political level, with a phone call between Boris Johnson and European President Ursula von der Leyen later.

He says there are two fundamental issues outstanding: fisheries and the level playing field.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Tory MP David Jones says Boris Johnson "must not buckle" and should be prepared to take negotiations right up to the legal deadline on 31 December.

The PM "must keep faith with the British people and resist any temptation to accept a sub-optimal deal that would cheat them of the sovereignty for which they voted", Jones wrote in an opinion article, external.

The deputy chairman of the European Research Group added: "He should by all means negotiate, if necessary, until the stroke of 11 o'clock on New Year's Eve; but if the EU still refuses a deal that fully respects our hard-won independence, he should leave the table in the knowledge that he has the full support of his countrymen and women."

Meanwhile, Conservative former minister Sir John Redwood accused the bloc of making "empty threats", writing in a tweet: "End the talks. The EU wants to stop us being independent. They cannot stop our trade. People and businesses buy and sell under WTO rules."

Image source, Getty

It's perhaps worth remembering that - while the UK and EU agreed a provisional deadline for the talks to conclude later today - the only concrete end date set in law is 31 December.

The transition period ends at 23:00 GMT on New Year's Eve and whatever comes next begins at that point - deal or no deal.

Theoretically, post-Brexit talks could continue right up until then.

But some of the Sunday newspapers point out that, in reality, talks can only go on until Christmas Day - 25 December - as MPs have to vote through a deal and a special sitting would be needed.

Image source, EPA

More now on developments overnight - as talks between the UK and EU on a post-Brexit trade deal march towards a mutual deadline today.

The terms offered by the European Union continue to be "unacceptable" to the UK, according to a UK government source.

The source said: "The prime minister will leave no stone unturned in this process, but he is absolutely clear: any agreement must be fair and respect the fundamental position that the UK will be a sovereign nation in three weeks' time."

Philip Rycroft, a former permanent secretary at the UK Department for Exiting the European Union, tells BBC Breakfast things are "looking a bit grim" for a trade deal.

"We are so late in the day now and still saying that there are big differences between the two sides," he says.

"Frankly, the energy seems to be draining out of this. I think if we were heading for a deal you'd be seeing a lot more diplomatic activity - there would be signs of a lot more conversations going on.

"This just seems to be stumbling towards a no-deal conclusion."

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will appear across media outlets and on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show later.

Other guests on the BBC One programme include Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin, shadow business secretary Ed Miliband and Oxford vaccine lead researcher Prof Sarah Gilbert.

We'll bring you all the latest live here, and you can watch the programme from 09:00 GMT on BBC iPlayer.

Image source, Getty Images

So what are the main points of disagreement that are preventing a trade deal?

"Level playing field" - the EU is determined to prevent the UK from gaining what it sees as an unfair advantage of having tariff-free access to its markets, while setting its own standards on products, employment rights and business subsidies.

Fishing rights is another major area of disagreement, with the EU warning that without access to UK waters for EU fleets, UK fishermen will no longer get special access to EU markets to sell their goods.

The two sides also disagree on whether the European Court of Justice should settle future UK-EU trade disputes.

Read more here.

Unsurprisingly the looming deadline for post-Brexit trade talks dominate this morning’s newspapers with most front pages leading on the story.

The Sunday Times says ministers have warned supermarkets, external to stockpile food for the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The Sunday Telegraph says that a package of billions of pounds in financial support is being drawn up, external to help sectors impacted by the failure to reach an agreement, including sheep farmers and fishermen.

The Mail on Sunday quotes a UK government source saying that German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants Britain “to crawl across broken glass”, external.

“No-Deal: We are ready!” says the Sunday Express.

You can read more in our newspaper review here.

Both sides have played down the chances of reaching a trade agreement, meaning that the UK could soon be trading on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms with the EU.

But what would this mean in practice?

• Prices could go up for goods coming in from, and going out to, the EU, with both sides likely to impose tariffs
• Long queues of lorries are possible at the UK border because of more checks on goods coming into the country
• Imports of fresh food could be reduced, with less choice of food on offer, say some supermarket chains
• Cross-border criminal investigations will be affected, with less co-operation on security and data-sharing between police forces in the EU and UK, which will lose access to databases of fingerprints, criminal records and wanted persons

You can read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Negotiators from both sides talked into the night in a bid to reach a last minute deal.

Both sides have played down the chances of reaching a deal by Sunday, with a UK government source saying that the EU’s terms were“unacceptable” yesterday evening.

Among the sticking points in a potential deal are fishing rights, the “level playing field” rules for fair competition and how to resolve disputes between the two sides.

You can read more from our Reality Check team here.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage, as post-Brexit trade talks approach a deadline set by the UK and European Union.

We'll bring you live coverage and analysis throughout the day as we wait to find out if Britain will leave with a trade deal or in a no-deal scenario on 31 December.