Portrait of the week: Elgin Marbles madness, Israel/Hamas ceasefire and Oscar Pistorius freed

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Net migration reached a record 745,000 last year, the Office for National Statistics said, 139,000 higher than the 606,000 it had previously given. Robert Jenrick, the minister for immigration, was reported to be ‘pressuring’ No. 10 with ideas for cutting immigration, such as by making a minimum salary of £35,000 a requirement for a work visa. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, had agreed with Suella Braverman, when she was home secretary, to raise the salary requirement to £40,000, according to a copy of their agreement seen by the Telegraph. Eight small boats carried 364 migrants to England on 26 November. Caolan Gormley, 26, from Co. Tyrone, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, the 11th defendant to be convicted in connection with the death of 39 Vietnamese people in a lorry trailer near Purfleet, Essex, in 2019.

The nation worked out what the Autumn Statement meant for their finances. For workers, the reduction of National Insurance from 12 per cent to 10 per cent, from 6 January, would save someone on an average salary of £35,000 £450 a year. State pensions will rise by 8.5 per cent. But a freeze on income tax thresholds would bring many into higher bands of tax as their income rose. Nissan is to invest £2 billion to make two new electric models in Sunderland and build another battery factory there. Barclays is to cut 900 jobs in Britain, according to the trade union Unite. Sunak cancelled a meeting with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek Prime Minister, after he spoke out about returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece. Terry Venables, the former footballer and England manager, died aged 80.

Organisers said that 100,000 took part in a march against anti-Semitism in central London on Sunday; organisers said that a day earlier 300,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators had marched through central London calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.