David Walliams denies inappropriate behaviour claims as he is dropped by publisher

Comedian and children’s author David Walliams has denied allegations of inappropriate behaviour after being dropped by his publisher Harper Collins.

The TV star, known for appearing in comedy shows including Come Fly With Me and Little Britain, “strongly denies” any claims and was not informed about or party to an investigation by HarperCollins, his spokesperson said on Friday evening.

A spokesperson for HarperCollins told The Independent: “After careful consideration, and under the leadership of its new CEO, HarperCollins UK has decided not to publish any new titles by David Walliams.”

It comes after The Telegraph reported the publisher made the decision after he was accused of behaving inappropriately towards young women. A junior colleague is said to have complained about his conduct, leading to other staff members being interviewed.

Former employees alleged to The Telegraph that they were advised to work in pairs when meeting with him and not to visit his home.

A spokesperson for Harper Collins added: “HarperCollins takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously and has processes in place for reporting and investigating concerns. To respect the privacy of individuals, we do not comment on internal matters.”

A spokesperson for Walliams said in a statement: “David has never been informed of any allegations raised against him by HarperCollins. He was not party to any investigation or given any opportunity to answer questions. David strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately and is taking legal advice.”

Walliams, 54, rose to fame more than 20 years ago through the comedy series Little Britain, alongside Matt Lucas, and has since become one of the UK’s most established and successful award-winning children’s authors, selling an estimated 60 million copies worldwide.

His books have been adapted for television by the BBC and are widely used in schools, with Harper Collins stating that they have been translated into 55 languages.

In recent years, Walliams has faced criticism after he was caught making obscene comments about contestants on Britain’s Got Talent.

In 2022, a leaked transcript revealed that he called one auditioning contestant a “c***” and said of another: “She thinks you want to f*** her, but you don’t.”

The remarks were made during an audition at the London Palladium in early 2020 and leaked to The Guardian, with Walliams subsequently leaving his role.

At the time, Walliams said that he wanted to apologise for the “disrespectful comments” and that they were part of a private conversation which was “never intended to be shared”. His comments were picked up by the microphones on the desk and were seemingly not intended to be heard publicly – and he sued FremantleMedia, the production company that makes BGT, for the leaking of his private remarks. The matter was settled in November 2023.

He also sparked outcry after giving two Nazi salutes during a recording of BBC series Would I Lie To You?’s Christmas special. He reportedly gave the offensive salutes while filming the episode with host Rob Brydon after an anecdote that was shared by Call the Midwife star Helen George.

Trump refuses to rule out going to war with Venezuela

Donald Trump has refused to rule out going to a war with Venezuela after ordering a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers coming and going from the country.

“I don’t rule it out, no,” he said when asked about possible military action by NBC News.

The Trump administration has led a hostile campaign against Nicolas Maduro’s government in Venezuela, with the US president demanding that Caracas “return all the oil they previously stole from us”.

Washington recently seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, and for months has carried out air strikes on so-called “drug boats” which Mr Trump claims are transporting illegal narcotics to the US through the Caribbean Sea.

More than 100 people have been killed in 28 strikes, including one “double tap” strike, which has been condemned by several members of Congress.

Asked whether there was a timeline for any future potential oil tanker seizures, Trump told the outlet: “It depends. If they’re foolish enough to be sailing along, they’ll be sailing along back into one of our harbours.”

Mr Trump did not reveal whether ousting Mr Maduro was his goal, saying that the Venezuelan president “knows exactly what I want, he knows better than anybody”.

The US president is facing scrutiny over the huge buildup of military forces near Venezuela, after promising to be the “President of Peace” when he came to power. He was recently awarded the brand new – but widely discredited – Fifa Peace Prize.

Announcing the blockade earlier this week, Mr Trump said: “Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”

He did not clarify what oil, land and assets the White House believes Venezuela has stolen from the US.

The unusually large force amassed in the Caribbean Sea includes 15,000 personnel operating with the US Southern Command, and 11 Navy warships – including America’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford – along with five destroyers, three amphibious assault ships, and two cruisers. Do

On board those ships are multiple fighter jet squadrons, a variety of Marine helicopters, Harrier jets and Osprey tilt rotor aircraft, with the capacity to transport large numbers of marines and to strike land and sea targets.

A US Navy submarine is also operating in the broader South America area, capable of carrying and launching cruise missiles.

Scrap Rayner’s workers’ rights reforms, Starmer-linked think tank says

The think tank that played a key role in Sir Keir Starmer’s campaign to become Labour leader has produced a new document which calls for much of Angela Rayner’s workers’ rights agenda to be abolished.

The unpublished paper by Labour Together criticises the reforms in the Employment Rights Bill, due to become law in January, saying they “sap dynamism” from the economy and that 80 per cent of them should be scrapped.

The think tank admitted it produced the paper but said it was a “provocation” for discussion, and was looking to the future rather than the present. A spokesperson said: “Labour Together totally supports this week’s Employment Rights Act.”

But the proposals risk sparking a major row within the party amid suggestions that a challenge to Sir Keir’s leadership after May’s local election results, widely expected to be disastrous, could see a battle for its future political direction.

Earlier this week Sir Keir praised the changes as “the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”.

Union leaders hailed the reforms, saying they would ban exploitative zero-hours contracts, create sick pay for all and repeal anti-union laws.

But businesses have warned that they will lead to a decrease in employment and hold back growth.

The document said the reforms had left the government’s economic agenda “going backwards” as it called on ministers to embrace “easy firing” while hiking taxes on firms and workers to fund higher unemployment insurance for those who lose their jobs, according to the Times, which reported that it had been circulated to some Labour MPs.

It said that the government should “scrap 80 per cent of the Employment Rights Bill and build out unemployment insurance”.

“This could be funded by higher taxes on employers (cheaper than the compliance cost of ERB (Employment Rights Bill)) and small contributions from workers.”

It also said new technology makes the “creative destruction” of job losses inevitable and urged the government to have the “most flexible markets” of superpowers such as the US and China, while “easy firing means easy hiring” which would benefit both companies and workers. The paper also suggests ending spending on infrastructure projects in the southeast of England, saying it can “pay for its own stuff”.

“The brave churn of technology — a political economy for Labour in the 21st century”, which has no listed author, opens with the words: “Tony Blair was right.”

It comes just a week after it emerged that Labour Together was canvassing party members on candidates to replace him, in another sign of trouble for the beleaguered prime minister.

The think tank, previously run by Sir Keir’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, asked activists for their opinions on Labour leadership contenders amid growing concern over the direction of the government and devastating approval ratings.

Alongside Sir Keir, eight Labour politicians were named, including cabinet ministers Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood, Bridget Phillipson, Ed Miliband and Darren Jones.

Also listed were former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell.

It came just days after Sir Keir said the “hugely talented” Ms Rayner would return to his cabinet amid growing speculation she could make a bid for the Labour leadership.

There have been reports that she could run on a joint ticket with Mr Streeting to challenge the prime minister.

When asked if he missed his former deputy, Sir Keir said: “Yes, of course I do. I was really sad that we lost her. As I said to her at the time, she’s going to be a major voice in the Labour movement.”

Pressed as to whether she will be back in the cabinet, he added: “Yes. She’s hugely talented.”

Earlier this week, Sir Keir defended Ms Rayner’s reforms and said: “I couldn’t be prouder to lead the government that made this happen.”

A Labour Together spokesman said: “Labour Together totally supports this week’s Employment Rights Act.

“This paper was a provocation for private discussion about how to build a political economy centred on technological change and innovation.

“It looks beyond current policy, exploring ideas for spreading innovation and investment outside the South East and how to support workers through technological change with a bigger welfare state rather than regulation alone.

“But given the welfare state we inherited from the Conservatives, that is far away. The Employment Rights Act is the best way to give workers much more security now.”

2025’s paltry Christmas Day lineup is not what British TV needs

Is Christmas TV dead? This was my first thought when I glimpsed the lineup for this year’s festive period. Once considered the pinnacle of primetime TV, Christmas Day 2025 features a wearying number of reruns and recaps. On Channel 4, you can catch a compilation of the best of this year’s Gogglebox. Switch over to the BBC and you can hunker down with, erm, a repeat of the Outnumbered Christmas special from last year. Or perhaps you prefer an old episode of QI or Only Connect. (Or, heaven forbid, the new seasonal special of Mrs Brown’s Boys.) I know the Strictly and Bake Off specials will likely be on in the background in my household – and a new Amandaland episode will have its adorers – but it feels like a bit of a stretch to call any of this appointment viewing.

Things are so bleak that the King’s speech is tipped to be the most-watched broadcast on Christmas. It’s hardly the most scintillating offering – it’s the monarch’s fourth such speech, deprived of any novelty factor, and he has always fallen far short of his predecessor’s public popularity anyway. But what, realistically, could best it? There’s no Doctor Who; no big Gavin & Stacey special this year to take the crown. While the BBC is holding back a few big hitters (including the return of The Night Manager, a one-off David Attenborough special, and the new season of The Traitors) for New Year’s Day, the rest of the festive schedule, spanning the desert period between Christmas and 1 January, is just as poor. It left me feeling like a bit of a Scrooge. And amid this lacklustre British lineup, the cultural encroachment from American streaming juggernauts seems harder than ever to stem.

I am by no means alone in bemoaning 2025’s particularly paltry Christmas schedule – but it would be a mistake to dismiss what we’re seeing this year as an unlucky fluke. Rather, it’s a symptom of a TV landscape that’s in existential crisis. On one level, TV’s Christmas surrender reflects the broader shift to streaming over the last decade. Younger generations lead the masses, with less than half of 16- to 24-year-olds watching broadcast telly in a given week. When we abandon traditional methods of viewership, the result is the endless recycling of intellectual property, as we’ve seen in the film industry with arduous remakes and reboots, which just about get reluctant bums on seats. Innovation and creativity suffer – as does diversity – as risk-averse producers fall back on safe bets.

In 2022, the then BBC director general suggested that terrestrial TV could be switched off entirely in the 2030s, with industry consensus beginning to forecast 2035 as a deadline. “We’re in danger of having no public service broadcasting within a decade, certainly within 20 years,” Sir Peter Bazalgette, former chairman of ITV, told BBC reporter Katie Razzal this summer. “We don’t have a strategy for their survival.”

This flock to streaming is born out in ad cash. TV ad spending is decreasing, and advertisers are increasingly shifting their investments to streaming platforms. Broadcasters similarly know that they won’t survive without expanding their streaming offerings; the main broadcasters have begun putting their differences aside and either collaborating or merging with one another to fight off competition from streamers. Last year, the “big four” channels participated in the launch of Freely, a new streaming service embedded in all new smart TVs to replace Freeview. There have even been controversial speculation about mergers.

If we succumb to streaming, there’s a threat of Christmas becoming even more caught up in US cultural homogeneity than it already is. This Christmas’s buzziest – and sure to be most-watched – festive offering is not on any of the conventional British broadcasters, but Netflix: the final episodes of Stranger Things. The sci-fi show has somehow retained its patient audience for long enough to eke out a fifth season, almost a decade on from its debut, and in that time has proven very successful at marketing American cultural nostalgia to UK audiences. (This is perhaps best epitomised by this winter’s Primark collab on this side of the pond.) It’s a far cry from Wallace and Gromit.

We shouldn’t, however, see this as a straightforward death sentence from the ghost of Christmas future. As was the case for Scrooge, there is still time to change. We are not necessarily doomed to consume exclusively American shows and recycled British slop for Christmas forevermore.

The rise of streaming has been driven, predominantly, by convenience. But there’s another reason it has proven such a threat to traditional television: innovation. And it’s innovation that broadcasters such as the BBC could learn from. While Netflix is often coy about sharing ratings, Christmas 2018’s Black Mirror special “Bandersnatch” was considered a widespread critical success, and also represented a pioneering experiment in what streaming can achieve. Created by the British Charlie Brooker, the episode gave us the choice to direct the narrative, with multiple-choice storyline prompts. It is still remembered as a huge brand activation for the streamer, even if the plot itself wasn’t necessarily anything special.

While “Bandersnatch” didn’t necessarily catch on as a mode of viewing, it was a kind of must-see experiment that generated a huge amount of buzz from fans internationally. It was fun and different. British broadcasters might do well to break free from a traditionally British austerity mindset and think about how they might take similar risks and experiment with the new tools available to them. Christmas – a period in which families and friends are a warm crowd, and also a bored one – is the best time for this kind of experimentation. And there’s a strong case that technological experiments should be collaborative, so that broadcasters don’t risk duplication.

There’s also a case for breaking the cycle of recycled intellectual property, even if it carries a financial risk. One glimpse at Netflix’s most popular shows in the UK points towards contemporary, cutting-edge and creative modes of storytelling – take Adolescence, which took on incels in a single shot, or Baby Reindeer, which was darkly confronting. If the BBC’s Christmas Day lineup could be described in one generous word, it might be “cosy”. Which is all well and good, but broadcasters shouldn’t underestimate what viewers can handle.

This year’s offering feels like a sign of what could come if broadcasters don’t start to think big – with a view to leading rather than following trends in this moment of transition and crisis. Safe bets aren’t cutting it, and audiences would love to watch something more unmissable or emotionally affecting than the King’s speech. Personally, I’m down to switching off my phone and bathing in the nostalgic activity of appointment viewing on Christmas Day. I just need a show that makes it worth it.

Pop icon secures UK Christmas No 1 with ‘genuine festive banger’

Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue has secured this year’s coveted UK Christmas number one with her new track, ‘Xmas’.

The 57-year-old ‘Padam Padam’ singer has also become the first woman to achieve number one singles across four different decades, the Official Charts Company confirmed.

“It’s hard to put into words how special this feels. Being Christmas number one really is the most wonderful gift,” Minogue said.

“I’m so thankful to everyone who’s been listening and sharing the love and I’m wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.”

While this marks Minogue’s first UK Christmas number one, her illustrious career boasts seven previous chart-toppers: ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ (1988), ‘Especially For You’ (1988), ‘Hand On Your Heart’ (1989), ‘Tears On My Pillow’ (1990), ‘Spinning Around’ (2000), ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ (2001), and ‘Slow’ (2003).

The past week has also been her biggest seven days of UK sales and streams in 23 years, since 2002’s ‘Love At First Sight’, according to Official Charts Company data.

She has also become the first solo female artist in 12 years to land the Christmas number one, following Sam Bailey with ‘Skyscraper’ in 2013.

Minogue joins a select group of international female solo artists to have a Christmas number one.

Trinidad-born Winifred Atwell took the title with ‘Let’s Have Another Party’ in 1954, and US pop star Whitney Houston reached the summit in 1992 with ‘I Will Always Love You’.

The last Australian artist to earn the Christmas number one title was Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman, who collaborated with Robbie Williams on ‘Somethin’ Stupid’ in 2001.

‘Xmas’ features on the 10th anniversary edition of Kylie Christmas, which was originally released in November 2015 and topped the UK albums chart last week.

Her single, pronounced X-M-A-S, is accompanied by a music video that shows Minogue teaching a dance to children and adults, with a special appearance from Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus.

Elsewhere in the singles chart, ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham! is at number two with Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ at three.

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s festive single, originally released in 1984, made chart history in 2024 when it became the first song to land the Christmas number one in two consecutive years.

For several decades the song was known as the UK’s best-selling single never to have reached number one, until January 2021 when it landed the top spot.

The top five is completed by ‘Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ at four and charity single ‘Lullaby’ by Together For Palestine at number five – this week’s highest new entry.

This week’s number one album is Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, which has been re-released to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, said: “Congratulations to Kylie – what an amazing achievement by our adopted national treasure.

“Since she announced her plan to enter the festive chart race, we have always felt she could mount a serious challenge, but it was hard to imagine that she would send the records toppling as she has this week.

“Now, with what feels like a genuine festive banger, she has claimed the Christmas number one 2025.

“And it already feels as if ‘Xmas’ has a genuine chance of becoming one of the nation’s favourite, recurrent, festive classics, returning year after year.

“Maybe, finally, Mariah has a challenger for her crown – Kylie, the new queen of Christmas?”

This year’s Christmas number one was unveiled live on BBC Radio 1’s Official Chart with Jack Saunders.

It’s about experience: Further Education teachers share what it takes

In the modern world, many of us are working longer than ever. Research based on ONS Labour Market data found that there are almost one million more workers aged 65 and above since the millennium and the state pension is set to rise to 67 by 2028 and 68 by the late 2030s. Subsequently, having multiple careers is becoming increasingly popular. And after decades working in a specific industry, sharing the work-based knowledge you have gained via teaching in further education is one of the most rewarding career shifts you can make.

Further Education teaching (defined as any education for people aged 16 and over who aren’t studying for a degree) allows you to switch up your working days and harness the skills and experience you have developed, all while helping shape the next generation of workers in your field.

To find out more about the role, from what it takes to the best parts of the job, we spoke to Further Education teachers who have switched from doing their day job to teaching it…

John Ryan, 51, from Weston Super Mare, worked for more than a decade on site in the construction industry, mainly in bricklaying and supervising roles, before an opportunity to become a Further Education assessor changed his path in his thirties. Travelling nationally to assess the work of new bricklayers in order to sign off their NVQs (National Vocational Qualification), the college John was associated with then started offering him some teaching work.

With no prior teaching qualifications, John completed these alongside his assessing and teaching roles with the fees picked up by the teaching college. “I liked the idea of passing on my knowledge and giving young people the skills and confidence to progress in a trade,” he says. “Teaching in Further Education felt like a natural next step because it would allow me to combine my practical background with coaching and mentoring.” There were practical draws too. “On site in the construction industry you are self-employed so you do not get holidays or sick pay. The stability of income and regular paid holidays was a big draw of Further Education teaching,” he adds.

Since his first assessing role 18 years ago, John has worked between assessing, teaching and jobs back on the construction site and now, he currently teaches bricklaying and groundwork full-time at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College.

John’s extensive site and supervisory experience has proved to be hugely valuable when it comes to teaching his students there. “I can explain not just the ‘how’ but also the ‘why’ behind industry standards,” he explains. “Learners often respond well to hearing about real jobs, site challenges, and the professional behaviours that employers expect. It makes the lessons more relatable and credible,” he shares.

“For example, I can share stories of accidents when teaching site safety, or explain how a mistake of a few millimetres on a construction site can cost you time to rectify, which in turn will cost you money,” he says. “These hands-on, real world experiences make the theory relatable and show learners the real value of getting it right.”

Coral Aspinall, 52, who became a full-time Further Education teacher 12 years ago, agrees. “My experience allows me to put my teaching into context,” she says. Coral started out her engineering career at 16 as an apprentice in a local engineering company. Following a BSc in Engineering and Business Management, she worked for many years in the engineering industry before enrolling on a part-time PGDE (Professional Graduate Diploma in Education) course for teaching. She’s now the Engineering Programme Leader at the Stockport campus of the Trafford and Stockport College Group. Here, they offer qualifications such as Level 2 Performing Engineering Operations as well as engineering-focused Level 3 T Levels and Level 3 Btec Awards. They also offer Level 3 apprenticeships across engineering including Technical Support, Engineering Fitter and Maintenance Management.

“Because I’ve been an engineering apprentice myself, I understand what the student needs to be successful in terms of skills, knowledge and behaviour,” she explains. “I also have contacts in the wider engineering community and understand what an employer is looking for in an apprentice, and can also share insights in terms of how the sector is shifting and evolving to help support their progress.”

Working for an extensive period of time in a field before passing on that knowledge gives teachers maturity and empathy which can be hugely helpful for students, especially those facing complex life situations.

Beyond the practical techniques, a big part of John’s role is helping learners build confidence, teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills that employers look for. “Many of my learners have different challenges, so they value teachers who are approachable, who believe in them, and who prepare them for real opportunities in work or further study,” he says. For John, his previous work experience has allowed him to do this. “On site, I worked with people facing all sorts of pressures, from work to life issues, which taught me to be patient and supportive,” he explains.

Coral has had a similar experience. “I see my role as more than imparting knowledge; it is about preparing the young person for the next stage of their journey. The students trust me to have their best interests at heart; they come to me for advice on their next steps and how they can achieve their aspirations, and I’ll support them with both practical advice and words of encouragement.”

For Coral, teaching later in life allows her to draw from a mature perspective, and teach her students positive workplace behaviours alongside skills and knowledge. “Students thrive when they have clear unambiguous boundaries, so I’m firm around expectations in terms of timekeeping, attendance and attitude. This is particularly important to succeeding in the workplace as employers value these behaviours as much as, or even more than having specific expertise or know-how (which can generally be developed).”

If you’re looking for a fresh career option, and keen to share your skills with the next generation, Further Education teaching could be a really enriching new phase. Further Education covers a huge range of career sectors including construction, law, engineering, digital, hospitality, tourism, beauty and more. This includes BTECs (Business and Technology Education Council qualifications), T Levels, NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications) or City & Guilds Qualifications.

Teaching in a mixture of colleges (often General Further Education Colleges or Sixth Form Colleges) and Adult and Community Learning Centres as well as workplace and apprenticeship settings, further education teachers share their years of real world industry skills with a diverse mix of people from those straight out of school aged sixteen to those making career switches later in life.

You don’t always need an academic degree or prior teaching qualifications to start teaching in further education. You can undertake teacher training on the job, often funded by your employer, so you can start earning straight away.. Furthermore, it doesn’t mean you have to stop working in your chosen field. Further education offers hybrid opportunities – so you could teach part time alongside your other commitments. This means you could have the best of both worlds, where you are still working in your chosen industry and teaching alongside it at a time that suits your schedule. Find out if it’s the right move for you here.

If, like John and Coral, you see the appeal in sharing the knowledge and skills you’ve developed with the next generation, exploring the option of becoming a Further Education teacher can be a great next step. As John shares, the reward is always worth it: “It never gets old passing on my knowledge to people starting on their journey, knowing I have made a difference and getting a smile and thanks in return!”

Looking for a new role that’s rewarding, flexible and draws on your current career? Why not consider sharing your experience where it matters most – helping inspire the next generation of workers in the field you love? Visit Further Education to find out more

Lancashire shaken by earthquake which ‘made a thunder noise’

Lancashire was shaken by a 2.5 magnitude earthquake early on Friday morning.

The quake rattled the village of Silverdale at around 5am, with tremors reported as far away as Blackpool and Flookburgh.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the quake was felt across the Morecambe Bay area, with residents describing “a quick, sharp shaking jolt” accompanied by “a thunder noise,” and others reporting that radiators and pictures had been shaken.

One person said the “noise was like an impact. I thought it might be something falling against the house like a tree.”

Another reported: “It woke us up and felt like an explosion and the radiators and pictures rattled.”

The quake comes two weeks after another 3.3 magnitude tremor in the same area.

The BGS told The Independent that last night’s quake is considered an “aftershock” to that more powerful event, and that the two incidents are linked.

The previous quake happened just off the coast of Silverdale on 3 December at a depth of 1.86 miles. This morning’s tremor was at a depth of 1.61 miles and in the same area.

Locals close to the epicentre of the previous earthquake told the BGS it “felt like an underground explosion” and was “so powerful it shook the whole house”.

The BGS’s seismology team told The Independent the quakes were due to “movement on a previously unknown fault”.

They said “the stresses causing this result from the movement of tectonic plates”.

While the official epicentre of last night’s tremor was close to the previous quake – “less than 2km” away, the team said it could in fact “be the same place within our location uncertainty”.

“The event last night was an aftershock following the event in the same region earlier this month. Aftershocks are not unusual,” they said.

Those concerned about whether the terra is still indeed firma in the Lancashire area should not worry, the seismologists said.

They added: “The seismicity experienced across the UK falls within the expected amount of activity. Whilst nationally, earthquakes are spread throughout the year, it is common for small groupings of earthquakes to occur regionally.

“Whilst the events in Lancashire were not small by British standards, they are nowhere near the magnitude of earthquakes found in other parts of the world.”

The BGS records between 200 and 300 earthquakes across the UK each year, but only 20 to 30 are typically strong enough for people to feel. Most tremors are so small they’re picked up only by monitoring equipment, and the vast majority cause little to no damage.

Jeremy Clarkson ‘genuinely frightened’ as he takes ‘first break from TV in 40 years’

Jeremy Clarkson has lifted the lid on how he feels about taking his “first break from TV in 40 years” – admitting he’s “genuinely frightened” about taking an extended holiday.

The 65-year-old former Top Gear host currently fronts a number of programmes, including ITV’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? revival and a new spin-off, Millionaire Hot Seat, which will arrive on the channel in 2026.

Speaking at the launch of the new programme, Clarkson told reporters: “I’m genuinely frightened because until March, I won’t be filming a TV show for the first time in forty years. That will be three months of s***.”

When the presenter isn’t filming, he runs the Diddly Squat Farm, which he bought in 2008. Having initially purchased the 1000-acre Oxfordshire holding as an investment, he took over the running of the farm in 2019.

The highs and lows of his farming career – which have included opening a farm shop and buying a nearby pub – have been charted in the Prime Video series Clarkson’s Farm.

The fifth season of the show is slated to arrive on the streaming service in 2026 – and it will be the last one for the time being, as Clarkson announced his decision to take a break from filming after it wrapped.

The run is expected to feature the most emotional scenes yet as an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis strikes the Cotswolds farm.

Speaking earlier this year, the former Grand Tour presenter admitted the profits from the TV show have been crucial to helping the business survive after a “disastrous” harvest.

“If a disaster on this scale had befallen any other industry, there would be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth,” he wrote in a post on X.

When one fan said this particular “drama” would make “good TV”, Clarkson replied: “Yes. But most farms don’t have TV shows to keep them going.”

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? spin-off Millionaire Hot Seat will see Clarkson joined by six contestants answering questions against the clock to boost the prize pot, which can only be won by one of them. ITV has commissioned 18 instalments of the 30-minute show.

Clarkson is also set to front 19 new episodes of the main programme and seven celebrity specials.