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  A Metropolitan Police officer who might have been able to stop Wayne Couzens resigned with their full pension before gross misconduct proceedings were brought over their alleged failure to investigate the   predator’s flashing offences . The unnamed constable failed to establish that a serving firearms officer was responsible for several indecent exposure incidents at a branch of McDonald’s in Kent, leaving him free to abduct, rape and murder Sarah Everard just days later. The officer did not identify Couzens’s profession by the time of the killing, despite Couzens driving his own car to the McDonald's, which was caught on CCTV, and paying for his food using his credit card. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an investigation into how the flashing reports were handled and concluded the constable should face a gross misconduct hearing. The individual is also accused of lying to the watchdog over their account of the investigation. If they had been found...

  Brexiteers warn that incentive for smugglers is a ‘serious problem’ as they urge Rishi Sunak to dramatically reduce tariffs By James Crisp,   EUROPE EDITOR 13 February 2023 • 8:07pm Bananas could be more expensive in Northern Ireland than the rest of the UK when a deal is struck on  the Protocol , Brexiteers have warned. The Government is considering slashing UK tariffs on bananas from Peru, Colombia and Ecuador next year, which will make them cheaper. But Brussels could insist that bananas sent to Northern Ireland from Great Britain pay a higher EU tariff if it deems them at risk of crossing into the Republic. As expectation builds that a UK-EU deal is close, there are fears that bananas will cost more in Belfast than Birmingham, Bannockburn or Bangor. “That’s a serious problem,” said David Jones, a former chairman of the European Research Group of MPs, “and it’s symptomatic of the problems that we’re getting with the Protocol.” The Protocol gives Northern Ireland uniq...

  The TV presenter said he is ‘quite forgetful’ but head injuries from his 2006 high-speed crash might have increased the risk By Telegraph Reporters 13 February 2023 • 8:31pm The former Top Gear host was left with a bleed on the brain after the accident  CREDIT : Ken McKay/ITV/REX Richard Hammond has said he is “too scared” to get checked for signs of early onset dementia after his  2006 high-speed crash .  The TV presenter, 53, said he fears his worsening memory loss is the result of a more serious condition. Hammond crashed a jet-powered dragster called Vampire at nearly 320mph while filming for Top Gear at the former RAF Elvington airbase near York. Although the incident  left him with serious head injuries , he recovered and returned to the show in early 2007. Hammond told The Diary Of A CEO podcast: “I do worry about my memory because it’s not brilliant. My working memory is very large, and my processing memory in the moment. So I can still read a page of ...

  Artists should not be cancelled if their work is extraordinary,   Cate Blanchett   has argued - citing Picasso as an example of a problematic genius. The Oscar-winning actress plays a celebrated conductor in  Tár, her latest film, which addresses cancel culture . Her character, Lydia Tár , is caught up in a #MeToo scandal and faces the end of her career after being accused of predatory sexual behaviour towards some of her former protégées. Asked in an interview if it was “right to cancel great artists because of their personal foibles”, Blanchett said: “You look at Picasso. You can only imagine what went on in, outside and around his studio. “But do you look at Guernica and say: ‘That is one of the greatest works of art ever?’ Yes. It’s a fact. I think it’s important to have a healthy critique.” Blanchett says Picasso's Guernica is 'one of the greatest works of art ever', whatever criticisms of the artist's behaviour  CREDIT : Hemis/Alamy Pablo Picasso ’s rela...

  Millions of families'   council tax will soar above £2,100 , with bills on course to rise by the maximum amount across three-quarters of England. Three in four of the local authorities that have declared their intentions so far have said they  will increase their rates  by 4.99 per cent from April. It means the average Band D household will fork out more than £100 a year extra, with residents of Rutland facing the biggest increase of £115. Bills will rise the most sharply across the South West, by 4.9 per cent, while the East of England will get away with the lowest increase of four per cent. The changes will mean that families in  many rural areas  end up paying a fifth more for the same services than people in London. Councils insist they have 'little choice' Low tax campaigners warned that the rises are “the last thing hard-pressed households need”, with the cost of living crisis biting hard. Council bosses  insisted they had “little choice” ...