Train drivers were offered a 14 per cent pay rise over three years on Wednesday night in an effort to bring an end to their crippling strikes.

Louise Haigh, the Transport Secretary, announced the above inflation increase which will see the average driver’s salary rise from £60,000 to just shy of £70,000.

The union Aslef hailed the “no-strings” deal which saw ministers ditch Tory demands for an end to generous working practices, including a four-day week.

It is the latest climb-down to the unions since Sir Keir Starmer took power just under six weeks ago. Last month, junior doctors were offered a 22 per cent increase over two years to end NHS strikes.

Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, has also signed off on an above-inflation salary increase of 5.5 per cent for millions of public sector staff at a cost of nearly £10 billion.

She justified the move by arguing fresh strikes would cost the economy more in the long run.

But it has sparked fears that she will have to put up taxes in her first Budget on October 30 to cover the spiralling cost of the government wage bill.

Under the latest bumper deal, train drivers have been handed two years’ worth of backdated pay rises which match the 9.7pc rate of inflation.

They have then been offered a 4.5pc increase for this year up to April 2025, which is more than double the projected rate of inflation. It is a total of 14.25 per cent over three years.

‘An end to this long-running dispute’

A deal would end two years of disruptive strikes which have seen train drivers walk out on 18 separate days, bringing the rail system to a standstill.

But it will raise further fears over the power the unions hold over Labour, which plans to bring the railways back into public ownership.

On Wednesday, Angela Rayner promised a “new era of partnership” with union bosses as she vowed to press ahead with reform to workers’ rights.

But business leaders have warned her plans risk stifling economic growth.

Ms Haigh said: “When I took this job, I said I wanted to move fast and fix things – starting by bringing an end to rail strikes.

“The Conservatives were happy to see the taxpayer pay the price as strikes dragged on and on, and passengers suffered. This Labour Government is doing the right thing and putting passengers first.

“If accepted, this offer would finally bring an end to this long-running dispute, and allow us to move forward by driving up performance for passengers with the biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.”

The Government subsidises the rail industry to the tune of £12 billion a year.

Aslef, the train drivers’ union, urged its 19,000 train driver members to accept the offer which will allow them to keep their current working conditions.

Mark Harper, the former Tory transport secretary, had been demanding modernising reforms including contracts that cover a seven-day week.

Under the current system, train drivers work a four-day week totalling 35 hours.

‘Labour has caved to the unions’

Most are not contractually required to work Saturdays and Sundays, meaning that they can charge overtime pay for volunteering to work at the weekends.

Train drivers also enjoy a series of bizarre rights collectively known as “Spanish practices” which the previous government wanted to end.

They include allowing staff to start their lunch break again if a boss starts talking to them and refusing to let workers use new technology like video calls.

Earlier this year, union bosses said that drivers should get extra pay for being required to use tablets such as iPads whilst at work.

Mick Whelan, the Aslef secretary-general, said Labour had “listened” to his union whereas the Tories had treated it with “utter contempt”.

He said: “The offer is a good offer – a fair offer – and it is what we have always asked for, a clean offer, without a land grab for our terms and conditions that the companies, and previous government, tried to take in April last year.

“We will put it to members with a recommendation for them to accept.”

Helen Whately, the shadow transport secretary, said: “A ‘no strings’ deal means this will be paid for by passengers and taxpayers.

“We have to make our railways more efficient – but instead Labour has just caved to the unions.

“Ditching working practice reforms leaves a hole in the finances that can only be filled by higher fares or higher taxes.”

A judge has jailed a “keyboard warrior” for posting an online message saying “blow the mosque up with the adults in it” during the riots.

Chester Crown Court heard that Julie Sweeney, 53, lived a “quiet, sheltered life” before sending the comment to her local community Facebook group in Kidsgrove.

Jailing her for 15 months, the judge told her that “even people like you need to go to prison”.

Sarah Badrawy, prosecuting, told the court one of the group’s 5,100 members became uneasy at a number of comments posted on the site in the wake of widespread violent disorder following the killing of three young girls in Southport on June 29.

Following a post that showed white and Asian people involved in the clean-up from the aftermath of the Southport disorder, Sweeney posted: “It’s absolutely ridiculous. Don’t protect the mosques. Blow the mosques up with the adults in it.”

Miss Badrawy said the concerned member found the post offensive.

‘Not being rude’

Police were alerted about the post, which was later deleted.

When arrested, Sweeney told officers: “I’m not being rude, but there are a lot of people saying it.”

She said she posted the comment in anger, had “no intention to put people in fear” and conceded it was unacceptable and that she would be deleting her Facebook account.

John Keane, defending, said: “She accepts it was stupid. This was a single comment on a single day.

“She lives a quiet, sheltered life in Cheshire and has not troubled the courts in her long life.

“Her character references show she lives a kind and compassionate lifestyle. She has been primary carer for her husband since 2015.

“This conduct is firmly out of character for her and she has shown genuine remorse.

“This offence was committed on her computer in the safety of her own home and unfortunately pressing ‘send’ for her is going to have dire consequences.”

When sentencing Sweeney, Judge Steven Everett, the Recorder of Chester, said: “You should have been looking at the news and media with horror like every right-minded person. Instead, you chose to take part in stirring up hatred.

“You were part of a Facebook account which had 5,100 members. You had a big audience.

“You threatened a mosque, wherever it was. It truly was a terrible threat.

“So-called keyboard warriors like you must learn to take responsibility for your disgusting and inflammatory language.”

‘Impressionable audience

The judge said the timing of the comment was extremely important given the events of recent weeks.

He added: “You had an impressionable audience and potentially a vulnerable audience.

“Your comment was recklessly made, rather than intentionally, but appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody.”

He said he took into account Sweeney’s previous good character and a “heart-rending letter” from her husband, but continued: “In circumstances such as these, even people like you need to go to prison because a message must go out that if you do these terrible acts the court will say to you ‘you must go to prison’. I’m afraid that’s what I have to say to you today.”

Sweeney, who appeared in court via video link from HMP Styal, replied: “Thank you, your honour.”

Earlier, the defendant, of Lawtongate Estate, Church Lawton, pleaded guilty to sending a communication to convey a threat of death or serious harm, an offence under the Online Safety Act 2023.

‘We will not tolerate this kind of behaviour’

A spokesman for Cheshire Constabulary said: “Since the start of the recent disorder in other areas of the UK, we have been clear that we will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in Cheshire, including those who post abusive and threatening messages online.

“People may think that posting hateful messages on social media, instead of engaging in this sort of behaviour in person, offers them some sort of anonymity. But this could not be further from the truth.

“As this case demonstrates, there is nowhere to hide. If you choose to engage in this behaviour, whether in person or online, we will find you and you will be held responsible.”

Career criminals with more than 100 previous convictions are being spared jail, The Telegraph can reveal.

In more than 4,000 such cases since 2007, offenders have avoided prison. The proportion walking free from court has quadrupled in the past 16 years, with an average of five a week being spared jail in each of the past 10 years.

The Ministry of Justice data, the most comprehensive analysis of its kind, shows that offenders with more than 50 previous convictions have been spared jail in more than 50,000 cases since 2007. The number of career criminals avoiding jail has nearly tripled from 1,289 in 2007 to 3,325 in 2023.

The figures follow warnings by Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, in the wake of the recent riots that a soft approach to justice has led too many people to “feel as though crime has no consequences”.

Among the rioters were many prolific offenders. Adam Wharton, 28, who admitted burgling a library in Liverpool, had 16 previous convictions for 26 offences. A fellow rioter who torched a police van had more than a dozen previous crimes, from robbing charities to dealing drugs.

After the Metropolitan Police arrested rioters at a protest in Whitehall, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said that about 70 per cent had previous convictions, including for weapon possession, violence, drugs and other serious offences.

Senior advisers to Labour have warned that, with police solving just 5.5 per cent of all crimes, a third of the rate of seven years ago, offenders have become “emboldened” by the low chances of being caught, convicted and jailed.

Neil O’Brien, a former Tory minister who obtained the MoJ data through parliamentary questions, called for longer prison sentences for repeat offenders. They account for half of the 20 million crimes in England and Wales, despite representing less than a tenth of the five million offenders, according to MoJ research.

“A fortune is being spent on catching and prosecuting people who then get a slap on the wrist and offend again,” said Mr O’Brien, the MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston. “With 50 per cent of crime committed by just 10 per cent of offenders, the case for longer sentences for those super-prolific offenders is strong.

“Most people would expect that sentence lengths would massively increase if you were being convicted for the umpteenth time but instead sentencing gets weaker for those with many previous convictions – the ‘more crime less time’ effect.

“Too many people in the criminal justice system are obsessed with community sentences and modish ideas, but the evidence is that jailing the small number of super-prolific offenders who commit an outsized proportion of crime for longer is an effective way to make the public safer.”

Last year, the number of people with 100 convictions who were spared jail hit 252, up from 132 in 2007. The total number of cases over the past 14 years is 4,008. The proportion of those avoiding jail despite 100 convictions has climbed from 0.03 per cent to 0.12 per cent.

Soft justice was evident even when the courts dealt with criminals convicted of violence. Since 2007, 39,000 violent offenders have been spared jail despite having more than 10 previous convictions. Of these, there were 9,688 instances of criminals with 25 previous convictions avoiding prison. Last year alone, it was 532, nearly triple the 184 in 2007.

Even when the courts were confronted with criminals who had repeatedly been convicted for the same offences, including burglary, knife possession and assault, they still did not send them to jail.

The data showed that, in the past three years, offenders had avoided prison despite having up to 21 previous convictions for burglary, up to seven previous convictions for carrying a knife, up to 34 previous convictions for assault, up to seven for sexual assault and up to 14 for robbery.

For every offence type other than drugs, the number of previous convictions that criminals had before they were jailed has increased compared with 2007.

People jailed for burglary had on average 26 previous convictions for any offence. Those jailed for robbery typically had 14.5 previous convictions. For assaulting a police officer, it was 19.6 convictions. Possession of an offensive weapon it was 14, theft 26, and sexual assaults five. For breach of an Asbo, it rose to 38.3.

More than 50 Tory MPs backed proposals by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, that offenders who hit 45 crimes should face a mandatory two-year custodial sentence each time they are convicted of a further serious offence. The plans, tabled as an amendment to a sentencing Bill, were never put to the vote.

Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, has pledged to conduct a review of sentencing but faces an overcrowding crisis in prisons which has forced the MoJ to introduce an early release scheme from next month.

A Ministry of Justice source said the figures illustrated “the mess the last Conservative government left the criminal justice system in”.

Tom Tugendhat, the shadow security minister who is also a Tory leadership candidate, said: “Criminality and lawlessness should not be met with empty words but with the full force of the law.”

He added: “Prison works because it punishes offenders and takes dangerous criminals off our streets. Repeat offenders, and the most violent in our society, should face tougher sentences, not softer treatment and early release. Anything else will make our streets and communities less safe and lead to the continued erosion of public trust.”

A government spokesman said: “The first job of this Government is to keep people safe, and the new Lord Chancellor has taken action to make sure the justice system is always able to lock up dangerous offenders, protect the public and reduce reoffending.

“Independent judges and magistrates decide sentences, but we are committed to making sure punishments fit the severity of the crime.”

Benjamin Netanyahu has been urged by his military chiefs to be flexible in the ceasefire negotiations opening in Doha on Thursday to avoid an all-out war with Iran.

The Israeli prime minister has also been warned that he will be publicly “called out” by the US if he tries to undermine negotiations, say diplomats.

Joe Biden told reporters ahead of the summit that it was his “expectation” that Iran would hold off on directly striking Israel if a ceasefire and hostage release deal could be agreed in the next few days.

Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese proxy, would also likely stand down, said Amos Hochstein, the US envoy.

A deal in Doha would “help enable a diplomatic resolution here in Lebanon and that would prevent an outbreak of a wider war”, Mr Hochstein told reporters after meetings in Beirut on Wednesday.

“There is no more time to waste and there’s no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay.”

Israel has been braced for twin attacks from Iran and Hezbollah ever since the killing two weeks ago of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader, in Tehran, and that of Hezbollah’s number two in Beirut.

Both Iran and Hezbollah had promised to avenge the assassinations and “harshly punish” Israel, but on Monday Iran’s diplomats started to de-escalate, linking the country’s planned military response to the ceasefire talks for the first time.

Only if the “Gaza talks fail or it [Iran] perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations”, would Iran and its proxies strike Israel, Reuters reported one of three senior Iranian officials as saying.

The Axios news service on Wednesday reported that the heads of the Israeli security and intelligence services had told Mr Netanyahu, in person and in writing, that time was running out. They “emphasised that delay and insistence on certain positions in the negotiations could cost the lives of hostages”, said Axios.

The Israeli officials added that the prime minister had given them a “reasonable mandate” with flexibility enough to justify the delegation travelling to Doha.

Axios also reported that Mr Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Donald Trump on Wednesday evening. The pair were reported to have discussed the ceasefire deal, according to a source, though the Trump campaign declined to comment on the conversation.

William Burns, the CIA director, is scheduled to take part in the Doha talks, which are being brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt. Antony Blinken, the US foreign secretary, is also expected in the region but did not travel as scheduled on Tuesday night.

Israel’s delegation will leave for Doha on Thursday. Its team will include David Barnea, the Mossad chief, Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security services, and Ofir Fleck, Mr Netanyahu’s personal political adviser.

On Wednesday night it was still unclear if Hamas would formally send representatives to the talks, despite optimism from the US on Tuesday that the Qataris would convince them to attend. 

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday that the mediating countries had indicated to both sides that they would not hesitate to “publicly blame them” if a breakthrough was not achieved over the next few days.

This is because the outline of the proposed three-stage deal was agreed by both sides more than a month ago after Mr Biden outlined it on live television at the end of May.

“It has also been clarified to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Biden administration – which until now has solely blamed Hamas for the talks’ deadlock – is reaching the point where Netanyahu’s behaviour would result in the White House publicly accusing him of harming the talks and preventing the release of the hostages,” Haaretz reported diplomatic sources as saying.

The Israeli defence establishment appears to have been caught by surprise by Iran’s political expediency and about-turn.

Senior figures in Israel’s defence establishment were confidently briefing earlier this week that twin strikes from Iran and Hezbollah were “inevitable” as both had been “humiliated” by Israel.

Many in Israel’s upper military and political echelons also regard the continued presence of Hezbollah in Lebanon as an “intolerable risk” for Israel in the aftermath of Oct 7.

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, pushed for Israel to wipe out the terrorist group after the Oct 7 attacks but was reportedly talked down by the US.

More recently, Benny Gantz, another former head of the Israel Defence Forces who until recently was part of Israel’s war cabinet, has argued for “pre-emptive” strikes.

US push to avert war

The US has mounted a huge military and diplomatic push to avert war in the region ahead of the presidential elections in the US in November.

It has moved substantial military assets into the region, including two carrier groups and two submarines armed with hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles.

On Wednesday, ambassadors to Israel from the UK, US and Germany called in a joint statement to agree to a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.

Steffen Seibert, the German ambassador, told a news conference in Tel Aviv that the “eyes of millions” would be focused on the Doha talks, which offered a political solution; a solution which would see the return of the hostages and the ability of “tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return home” in the north.

The ambassadors also condemned Itamir Ben Gvir, the Israeli security minister, for his “provocation” in allowing Jews to pray at Temple House, a Muslim holy site.

David Lammy, the UK Foreign Secretary, also criticised the minister. “The UK strongly condemns Minister Ben-Gvir’s deliberately provocative visit to Jerusalem’s Holy Sites,” said Mr Lammy on X.

“The focus of all parties must be on securing an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages, and restoring regional stability”.

Israel said its forces hit 40 targets in Gaza on Wednesday and the Hamas-controlled health ministry said at least 39,965 people had been killed since the start of the war, with thousands still missing.

In a separate development, paintings by Pablo Picasso and Gustav Klimt were among the treasures moved into a bomb shelter by Tel Aviv Museum of Art to shield them from an Iranian attack.

The museum first started the process of protecting its art in wake of the Hamas attack on Oct 7 when the terrorist group launched waves of rockets at Israeli targets.

“Since the situation is not clear, and this threat is always there, we feel that the safe place for them is downstairs in the shelters,” Tania Coen-Uzzielli, the museum director, said.

A judge has urged prosecutors to be tougher on rioters and suggested they should face up to a decade in jail.

The words of Judge John Thackray KC, the Recorder of Hull, came after he handed a three-year prison term to Connor Whiteley, who kicked a female police officer to the ground during riots in the Yorkshire city.

Whiteley, 26, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker, after playing a “prominent role” in the “racist, hate-fuelled mob violence” that unfolded in the city on Aug 3.

Sentencing him on Wednesday, the judge said: “The prosecution do need to look, for those who are playing front and central roles, at the alternative charge of riot rather than violent disorder.”

According to sentencing guidelines, violent disorder carries a maximum sentence of five years while the maximum term for rioting is 10 years.

Hull Crown Court heard Whiteley was at the front of a group confronting police who were trying to protect a hotel known to house asylum seekers, and was seen charging at officers.

The court heard he kicked the shield of a female police officer, forcing her off her feet and leaving her with a minor injury to her elbow and forearm.

Whiteley was also part of a group that targeted a garage, setting cars alight and threatening staff, who were forced to lock themselves inside.

While the attack was taking place, the judge said that “members of the public, including children, were terrified and cowering only 20 metres away whilst threats were being made to kill them”.

Meanwhile, a court heard on Monday how a mother brought her young child to a violent riot outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manchester.

Nevey Smith, 21, who was pushing the child in a stroller, joined a demonstration outside the hotel in Newton Heath on July 31.

She was at the front of the crowd and threw water at police officers guarding the hotel.

Smith, of West Street, Oldham, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Manchester magistrates’ court on Monday afternoon.

Tess Kenyon, the prosecutor, said: “Footage shows her throwing liquid from a bottle towards police officers who were trying to maintain order.

“She had a child with her in a stroller.”

Defending, Robert Moussalli said Smith had “lost her temper” during the disorder and “threw some water”.

He added: “She was taking the child to her grandmother’s house when she saw her auntie standing with some people near the hotel and went to talk to her,” he said.

“Then people started shouting and she moved to the front of the group and her auntie went to the back with the child. She wasn’t planning to do anything.”

District Judge Joanne Hirst told Smith: “You put your own child at risk.”

The judge added that Smith was “not as heavily involved as others in the demonstration” and was “not heard to utter any direct racist abuse”.

Smith was freed on bail and will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Aug 19.

The riot outside the hotel was part of a wave of violent demonstrations that swept across the UK following the Southport stabbings, in which three young girls were killed.

Elsewhere, a 40-year-old man has been charged with violent disorder and assault by beating an emergency worker during a riot in Weymouth on August 4.

Kevin Searle, of Weymouth, is due to appear at Poole magistrates’ court on Wednesday.

In Birmingham, Habeeb Khan appeared at the Crown Court charged with possessing an imitation AK-47 and accused of using the fake weapon to cause “members of the EDL” (English Defence League) to believe violence would be used against them.

The 49-year-old pleaded not guilty and also denied sending a communication threatening death or serious harm between Aug 4 and 6 in a video uploaded to social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

In London, a 14-year-old boy was charged over his part in a violent demonstration in Whitehall on July 31, while a man denied assaulting a police officer during the same disorder.

Danny Fournier, 41, is alleged to have “struck” the female officer “to the back of the head twice” who was “luckily” wearing a helmet, Westminster magistrates’ court heard.

Meanwhile, at Sheffield Crown Court, Trevor Lloyd, 49, was jailed for three years for being part of a mob that stormed a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham, a video of which was posted on TikTok.

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC – who has already sentenced several people in connection with the incident – said this was the “worst footage I have seen”.

Also in Sheffield, Glyn Guest, 60, was jailed for two years and eight months for pulling a female officer, who said she was “terrified for my safety”, to the ground.

Stuart Bolton, who was disqualified from driving and had no insurance, drove his partner and 15-year-old son from their home in North Lincolnshire to Rotherham in a Mercedes after hearing about the ongoing protest, Sheffield Crown Court heard. 

Footage played in court showed him screaming abuse and goading officers in riot gear as his partner attempted to calm him down.

Jailing him for two years and eight months, Judge Richardson said: “You were encouraging the remainder of the crowd around and about you to engage in violence.”

His Mercedes was also confiscated and he was banned from driving for three years. 

The officer said it was “a horrific incident of mindless thuggery” and that she had encountered “nothing like it before” in her five and a half years of service.

In Manchester, Warren Gilchrest, 52, admitted violent disorder at the city’s magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning but after pleading guilty, he told District Judge Joanne Hirst: “I’m guilty miss, but I’m not sure what it means.”

In Bristol, Dominic Capaldi, 34, was jailed for 34 months on his son’s seventh birthday after he was  captured on police bodycam footage throwing objects outside the Mercure Hotel, which is used to house asylum seekers, while crowds chanted “send them back”.

A government spokesperson said: “The looting and vandalism that we’ve seen is appalling, and those responsible are being brought to justice.

“Those affected may be eligible for up to £1m in compensation as a result of the Riot Compensation Act.

“Individuals and businesses should report any crimes to their local police force and inform their insurance companies as quickly as possible. If they do not have insurance, they should make a claim directly to their local Police Crime Commissioner or mayor with policing responsibilities.”