Sir Keir Starmer said he is not aware of any other Labour candidates betting against themselves.

Asked by broadcasters on the campaign trail, the party leader said: “No. You saw my action… I think this latest development highlights; one, how serious this is; two that the Prime Minister should have acted swiftly at the beginning and shown leadership rather than being bullied into taking action; and three, the wider choice now at the election between carrying on with this sort of behaviour… bending the rules and breaking the rules, disregarding the rules.

“We’ve got to stop that and usher in a reset.”

Sir Keir Starmer has denied Rishi Sunak’s claim that he would have to “sit down with the Ayatollahs” to pact an asylum return agreement.

The Labour leader told reporters in Staffordshire: “There are some things that are not sensible for the asylum policy, and that was a throwaway comment from the Prime Minister – who himself had no answer to that question.”

Sir Keir Starmer has spoken up after the backlash he faced over comments he made about Bangladeshi migrants during The Sun’s debate on Monday.

During the show, the Labour leader claimed that illegal migrants would be sent back to their origin countries and then gave Bangladeshi migrants as an example.

The remarks sparked anger, with deputy leader of Tower Hamlets Labour group Sabina Akhtar resigning over Sir Keir’s comments.

Keir Starmer has now claimed he was not intending to cause offence to the Bangladeshi community.

He added: “They’ve made a massive contribution to our economy, to our culture and to our country. That’s why there’s always been a longstanding and strong relationship between Labour and the Bangladeshi community here.

“It’s why my first trip as a Labour MP was to Bangladesh, where I saw for myself the strength of the country, the hospitality and warmth of the country. I’ve got many Bangladeshi constituents in my own constituency who I’ve been working with for many years, and I want to build on that in government.”

The Reform leader has reportedly admitted the party has dipped in the polls because “too many candidates saying stupid things”.

It comes as candidate Leslie Lilley reportedly claimed he would “slaughter” migrants in response to small boats’ crossings.

Rishi Sunak has admitted voters have left the Tories in recent years but urged for more support while campaigning in Derbyshire.

He said: “This is not a by-election. This is a choice about the future of our country and a choice that is going to have profound consequences for you, your family finances and the direction of our nation.

“Before you make that choice, you should just think very hard about what a Labour government would actually mean for you.”

Nigel Farage has branded the clash between Penny Mordaunt and Angela Rayner in the seven-way BBC debate a “catfight”.

Speaking in the NorthEast, he said: “There are some who think that maybe I need my bumps felt but I sense something is happening out there. I sense this unease that I talked about earlier is being widely felt and no-one sees solutions coming from the Labour and Conservative parties.

“I also sense what people want is not just the kind of politics you get when you put Penny Mordaunt and Angela Rayner together in a TV debate which descends into a catfight. ‘Oh look, look at them, they’re even worse than us!’ Well that’s what it is, isn’t it?

“I think what people want is a sense of a vision and a courageous leadership to say this is where need to go, this is what we want to do.”

The Reform leader previously came under fire for labelling people entering into the UK in small boats an “invasion”.

He has doubled down on the claims but this time has gone even further.

Mr Farage said migrants crossing the Channel are mostly “young men from war zones coming from countries where gang culture is the norm”.

He added: “Mostly coming from countries with terrorism and where women are treated as third-class citizens.”

Nigel Farage has branded Theresa May “one of the most useless politicians in modern times”.

Attacking Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak, he claimed: “Although there is fierce competition.”

The Reform leader claimed there is a “even deeper sense of unease about what is happening in our communities”

He said: “We’ve always been I think as a people far more generous and far more open-hearted to those around the world facing genuine oppression or the threat perhaps even of death. So we’ve always been kind to those communities in trouble around the world.

“We’ve accepted absolutely since the late 1940s that immigration into Britain can be a good thing, certainly the choice of food in most of our towns is rather better as a result of it. But what has happened over the course of the last 25 years is something entirely different.

“It is mass migration on a level that begins not just to divide and damage communities, and potentially to set people apart from each other which is dangerous, but also I think a feeling that something about our culture is directly under threat, that sense of who we are.”

Keir Starmer has said a controversial new advert from the Tories depicting people with their hands up and urging voters not to “surrender” to Labour is “desperate”, Kate Devlin reports.

Asked about the advert, the Labour leader told reporters: “This is really desperate stuff and I’m surprised by it.

“I think it underlines the difference between the two campaigns. They are running a very negative campaign, nothing about the future of the country.

“I’m very happy to be the candidate going into the final week who is putting forward a more positive case for the change the country needs.”