Britain is “on the cusp of a deal” to resolve the long-running dispute over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has said.

Speaking to Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, the cabinet minister said he hoped for an agreement over the Northern Ireland Protocol in “a matter of days not weeks”.

Labour has also said it expects to back any deal struck in the national interest.

Mr Raab said: “We are not there yet. But we are obviously in a position where we are on the cusp of a deal.

“I am reasonably confident. We wouldn’t be talking about it if we didn’t think there was a good momentum… but we have got to get all the pieces in place.”

He added: “But I think, hopefully, there will be good news in a matter of days, not weeks.”

He added: “Hopefully, there will be good news in a matter of days not weeks.”

Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said he expected his party to back any deal.

He told Ridge: “Labour is determined to act in the national interests of our country and of Northern Ireland.

“It’s very likely that if a deal does emerge it will be an improvement on the Northern Ireland protocol deal that was struck by Boris Johnson just a few years ago.

“And for that reason, we have indicated that we expect to support this deal when it emerges, I suspect in the next few days.”

Mr Lammy added: “If he (Rishi Sunak) does get a deal then credit to him because this is hugely important for the national interest of our country and for the people of Northern Ireland.

“We want power-sharing to get back, we want Stormont to get back and certainly businesses and the community in Northern Ireland do not want unnecessary friction at the border.”

But he cautioned: “There should be no rush, I think, on any vote in Parliament.

“People are entitled to look at the small print in detail.

“I hope now that all of us can come together and vote through any deal, and get back to Stormont, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement, and move on from this episode that has now gone on for many years indeed.”