London and Brussels are hopeful of signing a deal at the first UK-EU summit since Brexit, which will take place in the British capital on May 19.

However, Labour's drubbing by the anti-EU Reform UK party in recent local elections and critical reaction to a trade deal agreed this week with India could lead London to take a more cautious approach, The Guardian reported.

Despite the potential for domestic criticism, Starmer suggested to the paper that the UK was prepared to align with the EU on food standards as part of the deal, saying: "We do not want to lower our standards on food.

"I think that British people are proud of the high standards that we have, and we want to maintain those standards," he said, adding the government would take a "serious, pragmatic" approach to talks.

Significantly, he accepted that the European Court of Justice would be involved in resolving disputes, pointing out that it already has a role as part of the existing agreement that deals with Northern Ireland.

- Youth mobility scheme -

Defence Secretary John Healey also told the BBC on Friday that London was willing to pay for UK companies to gain access to lucrative EU defence spending programmes.

"We are prepared to pay our fair share but we want to have a say in the programmes, while retaining UK intellectual property and export opportunities," he said.

One of the most controversial elements of a new deal is a potential youth mobility scheme, which would remove restrictions on young people moving between the UK and EU.

Minister for EU relations Nick Thomas-Symonds said this week the government was exploring the scheme, and Starmer, when asked about the subject, told The Guardian that "we're pragmatists, and that's the approach that we bring to these negotiations".

Immigration was a key reason behind the 2016 vote to leave the European Union and the government has vowed there will be no return to free of movement of people.

While authorising young people in the EU and in Britain to spend a certain period working or studying in the other territory is removed from the free-movement principle that exists within the EU, it is likely to be seized upon by Reform UK.

That party, and its anti-immigration leader Nigel Farage, are currently riding high in the polls.

The newspaper said EU diplomats were concerned that domestic concerns were curbing London's desire for a quick deal, with one saying that "everyone is very sensitive to how a closer relationship lands in the UK".

But Starmer insisted he was "ambitious about what we can achieve" and that "I want a closer relationship on security, on defence, on trade and on the economy.

"Let's look forward, not back. Let's recognise we're living in a different world. We're in a new era on security and defence. Equally, we're in a new era on trade and the economy now," he added.