Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote on X: “Fayaz Khan received an 8-month sentence for illegal entry into the UK. Where are the sentences for the 35,000 migrants who’ve illegally entered this year?”

Migrants coming to the UK to work will need to learn English to an A-level standard under new rules set to be introduced.

Tougher requirements for speaking, listening, reading and writing will be needed for certain visas, as part of the Government’s Immigration White Paper measures announced in May.

The White Paper seeks to tighten controls and cut migration to the UK.

Those applying for skilled worker, scale-up visa routes, and graduates under the High Potential Individual (HPI) visa will need to reach B2 level, instead of the current B1 standard.

Applicants will have to pass the Secure English Language Test at a Home Office-approved provider in person, with their results to be checked as part of the visa process.

The changes were laid in Parliament on Tuesday, and are expected to come into force on dates following November 4.

Shadow energy sectretary Claire Coutinho warned that Labour is putting decarbonisation on a “higher footing” than cutting people’s energy bills.

Speaking to industry leaders at the Energy UK conference in London, she said: “The general public, to me, are the most important people in all of this, and they’ve promise that someone will cut their bills by £300 by 2030.

“So whilst I know that people in the room will have felt that some of my announcements in the last few weeks will undermine the consensus that we’ve had in this country when it comes to the Climate Change Act, I would argue this.

“That what is destabilising more than anything is an energy policy in this country which is putting decarbonisation on a higher footing than cutting people’s bills.”

“And then when you promise them that their bills will be lower but they can see month by month that they are not, that is what we’re seeing at the moment.”

Kemi Badenoch accused the Government of “rewarding terrorism” and accused pro-Palestine protesters of being “relatively silent about the good news of a ceasefire and hostage return”.

The Conservative leader told the Commons: “In a move praised by Hamas, Labour decided to recognise a state of Palestine with no condition to release the hostages still held in the tunnels of Gaza, rewarding terrorism.”

Mrs Badenoch later added: “The anti-Israel protesters who have turned our streets into theatres of hate have been relatively silent about the good news of a ceasefire and hostage return, showing us their real motivation.”

She called on the Government to “now do everything it can to eradicate antisemitism”.

Ending her response to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Mrs Badenoch said: “Britain is a great country and still a powerful one.

“We still have agency to shape the world around us. The Government must do better and show it has the backbone to use Britain’s power to make a better world.”

Recognising Palestine helped to bring about peace in Gaza, Sir Keir Starmer has told MPs.

Addressing MPs after his return from the peace summit in Egypt, the Prime Minister said the UK had been in a position to work “behind the scenes” for a ceasefire “precisely because of the approach this Government takes”.

He said: “That does include our decision to recognise the state of Palestine.

“Because this move, taken alongside our allies France, Canada, Australia and others, helped lead to the historic New York declaration, where for the first time the entire Arab League condemned the atrocities of October 7, urged Hamas to disarm and, crucially, demanded that they end their rule in Gaza.”

But Sir Keir also stressed that the peace deal signed on Monday belonged to US President Donald Trump.

He said: “This is his deal.”

He says Tories should seriously consider voting Reform in the Caerphilly by-election.

He argues it’s clear neither the Tories nor Labour can win there and the Union is too important.

Labour has changed the law to allow criminals to be deported after serving just 30% of their sentence in the UK. It had been 50%.

And new legislation will allow ministers to deport foreign offenders as soon as they are sentenced.

But it has not passed through Parliament yet.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick says the thug should be sent back to Afghanistan.

He said: “This illegal migrant, who threatened to kill Nigel Farage, could be out of prison in just 18 months.

“He should be deported back to Afghanistan and never allowed to return.

“Those who break into our country, threaten our people and our democracy, have no place here.”

Sir Keir Starmer has not seen government evidence submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service in the collapsed Chinese spying case, Downing Street has said.

Ministers are not privy to the “independent” witness statement provided to the CPS by deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins related to the previous Conservative government’s time in office, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said.

He told reporters: “He (Mr Collins) provided evidence to help support the prosecution case.

“Of course, all of the evidence provided by him was based on the law at the time of the offence and the policy position of the government at the time of the offence, but every effort was clearly made to provide evidence to support this case within those constraints.”

He also said: “The point of a witness statement is that it is an independent record. It would not have been appropriate for the Prime Minister to get sight of a witness statement related to a previous government’s time in office…

“The deputy national security adviser has drawn on a full range of evidence from across government at the time of the case. It was obviously drawn up in 2023 under the previous government…

“The statement will have provided the most robust witness statement possible within the constraints of the previous government’s policy and of course the legislation at the time.”

Nigel Farage said being an MP could be dangerous for “all sorts of people”.

Asked if it was dangerous to be a Reform MP, the party’s leader said outside Southwark Crown Court: “Well, I think you know, being a Member of Parliament, as we’ve seen over the course of the last decade, could be dangerous for all sorts of people.”

Speaking outside Southwark Crown Court, the Reform UK leader said: “The only reason we know about this guy is because somebody sent it to me on TikTok.

“It makes me wonder, how many other ‘Madapasas’ are there now in this country, or will there be, as the boats continue to cross the Channel?

“So I’m pleased with the judgment but deeply, deeply concerned that this guy will be out free in 18 months.

“A strange twist at the end when, after the sentence, he was speaking from the dock trying to be heard, making it perfectly clear that he’d rather go back to Afghanistan.

“In Germany, there are planeloads of people going back to Afghanistan – I wonder if in 18 months’ time, the only thing that stops him from being on our streets is if we have some kind of deal with Afghanistan.

“I doubt it, but at least it’s a possibility, and the Germans have shown us what they can do.

“So I’ve got mixed feelings, it was right to bring this case, I’m happy with the sentence, I’m happy with the win, but I repeat, in 18 months time this violent criminal will be free on our streets.”

Nigel Farage said he will be “very thoughtful” when Fayaz Khan is freed from prison.

Asked if he was “shaken” by the outburst Khan shouted at Mr Farage after he was sentenced, he said: “Well, in 18 months time, when he’s out free and there’s no order, there’s no restraining order on him, I’ll be very thoughtful again.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said “I suppose we call that a win”, after the small boat migrant who threatened to kill him was sentenced, but claimed that he could be back on the streets in 18 months.

“Well, I suppose we call that a win,” he told reporters outside Southwark Crown Court.

“It was about the maximum sentence that could possibly be given, five years, given the scale of the offence. And I thank Justice Steyn. I thank the judge for saying what she said.

“But the fact is that in 18 months time this violent criminal, somebody with 17 convictions in Sweden, in 18 months time he will be in this country, living in a house of multiple occupancy or a hotel, free to walk the streets whilst his asylum claim is judged.”

Private sector pay growth also slowed to its lowest rate in nearly four years, at 4.4%.

It follows an increase in unemployment.

A migrant who came to the UK on a small boat has been jailed for five years for making a threat to kill Reform UK leader Nigel Farage in a TikTok video last year.

Afghan national Fayaz Khan, 26, made the threat to kill the politician last October 14 in a video on the social media platform that Mr Farage said was “pretty chilling”.

Khan was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday after being convicted following a trial last week.

He was also sentenced for entering the UK illegally having previously pleaded guilty to the offence.

The pound fell following the figures, with sterling down 0.5% at 1.326 US dollars and 0.4% lower at 1.147 euros.

Pensioners are on course for a bigger state pension boost next year than previously thought after a key figure used in the triple lock calculation was revised upwards.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data released on Tuesday showed an upwards revision to total wage growth including bonuses for the quarter to July, up to 4.8%, from 4.7% in a previous estimate.

Under the triple lock guarantee, the state pension increases every April in line with whichever is the highest of total earnings growth in the year from May to July of the previous year, Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation in September of the previous year, or 2.5%.

Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said of the revised figures: “This has consequences for people getting state pension who can expect the amount they get to go up ever so slightly from next April.

“Those on the full new state pension could be on course for £241.30 per week rather than £241.05 while those on the full basic state pension will see their weekly payment rise to £184.90 rather than £184.75.”

Britons tentatively support Donald Trump’s Gaza peace deal, new polling suggests.

The poll by Electoral Calculus and Find Out Now found 37% back the plan, 5% oppose, while 58% are unsure.

The poll of 2,024 adults was carried out on October 13.

Reform UK is in the lead with 27%, unchanged from the week before, in the latest YouGov poll.

Labour is second with 20% and the Tories are third with 17%, both also unchanged.

The Lib Dems are down one point on 16%, while the Greens are up one to 13% which is the highest score the pollster has recorded for the party to date.

The poll of 2,321 people was carried out from October 12-13.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham blamed rising unemployment on “chronically low investment and a failed net zero plan”.

She said: “The UK economy needs a co-ordinated industrial strategy backed by serious investment. To do anything else risks workers in Britain being thrown on the scrap heap and rising unemployment.

“Other economies like Germany are investing heavily in their industries and the UK is lagging way behind.

“Chronically low investment and a failed net zero plan is delivering a jobless transition.”

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately said: “The only thing growing under Labour is the unemployment queue and the national debt.

“The Conservatives left office with unemployment at near record lows and the fastest-growing economy in the G7. In just over a year, Labour has killed growth and crushed jobs and livelihoods, with families paying the price.

“Keir Starmer has no backbone and is too weak to stand up to his own backbenchers to cut welfare and get people back into work. Now families face another Rachel Reeves’ tax raid, which will pile on pressure on workers and punish the businesses that create jobs.

“Only the Conservatives have the plan to do the right thing for the next generation by freeing business to create more jobs, drive growth, and deliver a stronger economy built on work, not welfare.”

The rate of unemployment has hit its highest level for more than four years, official figures show.

The jobless rate increased unexpectedly to 4.8% in the three months to August, up from 4.7% in the previous three months, according to the Office for National Statistics.

This is the highest since March to January 2021, at the height of the pandemic, although the ONS said the figure needs to be treated with caution as it continues to overhaul its labour market survey.