On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, legendary actor Val Kilmer, best known for Batman Forever and Top Gun, died at 65 years old. His daughter, Mercedes, revealed pneumonia to be the cause of death to The New York Times. The actor passed away in his Los Angeles home. He has a long history of battling throat […]
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JAMES May has issued a brutal response to working with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond again.
Last year, the former Top Gear trio broke off their working relationship after over two decades together.
Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond started working together on the famous BBC One show in 2002.
After controversially leaving the corporation, they launched a new show called The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime in 2016.
However, the show came to an end in September last year as the trio bid farewell to doing programmes together after 22 years.
Now, after rumours that they could do more projects, James May has spoken out about the prospect of getting the band back once again.
However, it’s not necessarily the good news that fans may have been hoping for, especially with his utterly savage response.
Apart from a set of upcoming specials of the Amazon Prime motoring show, it seems James is done for good after working “over a third of [his] life working with those two idiots.”
He told ABC News Breakfast: “Yes we have disbanded. There isn’t going to be a reunion.
“We’re not like Led Zeppelin or anything like that. In many ways, we’re not like Led Zeppelin.”
Led Zeppelin have reunited on a number of occasions after they first ‘ended’ in 1980.
They last conducted a concert together in 2007, which was 27 years after the group disbanded following the death of John Bonham.
However, James May did admit that the end of the long-running partnership was ’emotional’, as they had been working together for so long.
“Well it was emotional I supposed, I’ve been in that job longer than I’ve been in any other job by a long, long way,” he remarked.
“I also think that it was time to stop because we always said we would land it with dignity not fly it into the cliffs.”
However, the TV presenter said that it was the ‘right time’ for the famous trio to part ways as they embark on other projects.
How many seasons of The Grand Tour are there and where do they take place?
The Grand Tour launched on Prime Video in 2016 and quickly became one of the streamer’s biggest hits as hosts Jeremy, 63, James, 60, and Richard, 52, felt it was time they move on from Top Gear hit the road.
They have now brought five epic series of motoring adventures to the small screen, each taking place in different locations and even featuring celebrity guests.
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Series 4
Series 5
As well as his column for The Sun, Jeremy Clarkson is now the main face of his global smash hit documentary reality series Clarkson’s Farm.
James also thinks that it should be up to emerging talent to think of new ways to bring the genre of motoring programmes to life.
The star admitted: “It was probably the right time to stop. We are getting on a bit, our view of the subject is probably becoming a bit dated.
“It’s time for a younger generation to re-evaluate it and think of a new way of talking about things like cars.”
LABOUR’S hefty employer National Insurance hike is coming in days – we explain what it means for you.
From April 6, businesses will have to pay a higher rate of employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) of 15% from 13.8%.
The threshold at which they are paid is also being lowered from £9,100 to £5,000.
The Government confirmed it was making the changes in its Autumn Budget last October in a bid to increase revenue.
It also said the move meant it wasn’t increasing taxes for working people.
However, it will have an impact on shoppers and everyday consumers as businesses look to pass on the additional costs.
Here is how you could be affected.
A host of retailers and chains have warned they will have to hike prices on goods to cover the cost of the increase in NICs.
In a recent survey of chief financial officers at 52 leading retailers carried out by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), two thirds said they will have to raise prices.
The BRC, which represents UK retailers, also said it expects to see food prices rise by 4.2% later this year due to the NIC increase.
In January, boss of M&S Stuart Machin said the retailer wanted to pass costs on “as little as possible” but had been forced to tweak its business plan for the coming years.
He added any price rises would be “small and behind the market” but did not say how much exactly they would go up by.
Next has also said it will need to push through an “unwelcome” 1% rise in prices and launch self-service tills to drive down staffing costs.
Halfords has warned it may be forced to push up prices too, as well as Asda, Primark and Sainsbury’s.
A number of pub bosses have cautioned of price rises as they brace for the rise in NICs.
It comes as the hospitality sector also faces temporary business rate relief being reduced from 75% to 40% this month.
Boss of Wetherspoons Tim Martin last month warned of price rises as it faces £60million in extra costs due to rising NICs and wages.
All Bar One owner Mitchells and Butlers (M&B) has said the price of a pint would rise by up to 15p.
Chief executive of Fullers, Simon Emeny, also exclusively told The Sun the price of beers at its hotels and boozers would likely rise by 10p.
Marston’s has already increased the price of draught beer across its pub estate with drinkers facing an extra 10p more a pint at the bar.
Thousands of shops have already closed across the UK in the last 12 months, but more could be coming due to the employer NIC rise.
The Centre for Retail Research said more than 13,000 high street stores were shuttered for good in 2024.
But it said this figure will rise to about 17,350 in 2025 due to the hike to NICs and the rising national minimum wage.
Fashion retailer New Look has said it could close almost 100 shops following the Government’s tax raid.
Small shoe chain A. G. Meek is closing one of its stores this month with its boss saying it was due to the NIC hike, a reduction in business rate relief and lower footfall.
Historic department store Beales, in Bournemouth, is also ceasing trading in May with boss Tony Brown telling The Telegraph the business had become “unviable” due to the extra costs associated with the Government’s Autumn Budget.
Economists have warned the employer NIC hike will ultimately be felt by workers in the shape of reduced wage rises.
Not only will the reduced salary rises impact employees in the immediate term, but in the long term as well.
This is because it will see workers with less money to add to their pension pots.
It might also discourage employers from raising how much they contribute to their employees’ workplace pensions in the future.
Businesses may also end up laying off staff or taking less workers on in a bid to shore up their finances.
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THE Minister for Finance has warned that “every property owner” will be asked to pay “at least a small amount more” in tax from next year.
The majority of households will be forced to fork up between €25 and €5 more for Local Property Tax every year under the rule change.
Revaluations of properties are due to take place on November 1, with the next valuation starting up in 2025 for a duration of five years.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said: “The valuation bands will be widened in line with property price growth that we have seen in recent years, and the base rate of local property tax will be amended.
“The widening of the bands will ensure most property owners will remain in the valuation band that they are currently in.”
The price of property has risen by 23 per cent since the last local property tax valuation period in 2021, according to the Central Statistics Office.
This enormous jump in property prices would mean that almost 70 per cent of homes would climb at least one tax band and face significantly increased payments.
For example, a property valued at €400,000 in 2021 was in Value Band Four which is a basic rate of €405 per year.
This same property would now be worth €492,000 and would jump into Value Band 5 with a tax rate of €495 per year – a €90 increase.
The proposed changes to LPT will mean that most homeowners will remain in their present valuation bands – but base LPT charges will be hiked in proportion to property values.
With these changes in place, some 97 per cent of properties are expected to stay within the same band.
The remaining three per cent of properties will climb just one tax band.
A small number of properties will pay a much larger amount than before, either as a result of moving valuation band, or due to their existing high value.
However, the “majority” of people, those with properties valued at €525,000 or lower, will pay between €5 and €25 more for LPT each year.
Minister Donohoe said: “Given the growth in property prices in recent years, the proposed changes are fair, progressive, and will ensure consistency and stability in the upcoming valuation period.”
“By asking property owners to contribute a small amount more than they do at present, LPT is projected to yield in the realm of €45 million or eight per cent in additional funding for local authorities, which will go towards local services.
“The majority of property owners, being those with properties valued at €525,000 or lower on 1 November 2025, will pay between €5 and €25 extra a year.”
ALL valuation bands will be widened by 20 per cent under the new rules.
Band 1 is expanded from €1 to €240,000 and Band 2 contains values in the range €240,000 to €315,000.
All subsequent bands increase in increments of €105,000.
The fixed charges for Bands 1 and 2 will be increased: from €90 to €95 for Band 1, and from €225 to €235 for Band 2.
The basic rate of LPT is to be decreased from 0.1029 per cent to 0.0906 per cent, which will apply on properties valued up to €1.26 million.
This will result in a small increase in base LPT charges, as midpoints increase as a result of band widening.
For properties in Bands 3-19, charges are calculated by applying the base rate of 0.0906 per cent to the band’s midpoint value.
Properties in Bands 12-19, between €1.26 million and €2.1 million, are charged at 0.0906 per cent on the first €1.26 million, with a subsequent 0.25 per cent on the balance of midpoint value in excess of €1.26 million.
Properties in Band 20 (over €2.1 million) are charged on actual property values as before,
The Fine Gael TD said the Programme for Government commits to “fairness stability” in LPT payments, explaining that the new charging mechanism will prevent “a significant increase in liabilities for most households”.
Minister Donohoe intends to have the Bill enacted before the summer recess to enable the Revenue Commissioners to make the necessary preparations in advance of the valuation date.
He said: “The next step is to prepare the legislation to implement these changes to allow Revenue make the necessary preparations for the valuation of residential properties and the introduction of the new charging structure.”
The income thresholds for deferral of LPT will be adjusted to account for inflation, wage growth and increases in State payments since 2021.
This decision follows a recommendation made by the 2019 Review Group on LPT.
The existing thresholds will increase by between 30 per cent and 40 per cent, depending on personal status and whether the threshold is in respect of full or partial deferral.
A 110-year-old lemon used by a German WW1 spy to send secret messages from Britain with invisible ink is going on display in MI5’s first ever public exhibition.
The blackened and flattened fruit was one of two lemons found on enemy agent Karl Muller in 1915 after he was arrested for spying.
Muller came into the country from Belgium in January that year posing as a Russian shipping broker.
He pierced lemons with a pen nib to extract the juice and insert secret writing in innocent-looking letters informing his handlers of troop movements.
Postal workers became suspicious about a letter addressed to a PO Box in Rotterdam and alerted an MI5 officer who pressed a warm iron on the writing to reveal the messages.
Muller was arrested by police at his lodgings in Bloomsbury, central London, where one lemon was found in his overcoat pocket and another – cut into three segments – was seized from a drawing table drawer.
The National Archives curator Mark Dunton said: “An officer asked him ‘what have you got this for?’
“He pointed to his teeth and said ‘I use it to clean my teeth.’ Perhaps not surprisingly, they didn’t believe him.”
The lemon from the table drawer was wrapped in cotton wool and has been preserved in a cardboard surrounding.
It is part of the exhibition – MI5 : Official Secrets – opening on Saturday at The National Archives, in Kew, West London.
Muller had an assistant, German baker John Hann, who was arrested at his home in Deptford, South London, where a severed lemon with pen pricks was also found.
Both spies were secretly tried at the Old Bailey in April 1915 where an expert gave evidence that forensic matter found on a pen nib matched one of the seized lemons.
Hann was jailed for seven years while Muller was sentenced to be shot by a firing squad at the Tower of London.
Following Muller’s execution, crafty MI5 officers then hoodwinked German intelligence by continuing to send fabricated reports with misleading information to them in Antwerp.
The Germans continued to send over money for their deceased agent which MI5 used to purchase a two-seater Morris car – which they called ‘The Muller’ – on surveillance jobs.
Curator Mr Dunton said: “They were reprimanded by the Treasury for unauthorised use of funds.”
MI5 was formed in 1909 amid fears of a war with Germany and its early history documented in the exhibition reveals how women were trusted more than men.
Girl guides were used instead of boy scouts to run messages as they were deemed more reliable while the fledgling agency used women to run its registry of cards on enemy suspects and subversives.
Documents reveal how MI5 targeted fascists and Marxists 1930’s and a cloned key to the Community Party of Great Britain’s HQ – used by spooks to check on its members – is on display.
The story of MI5’s greatest triumph – duping Hitler over the landing site for the D-Day invasion in 1944 – is also told.
Official papers from double agents used to con the Germans into believing the Normandy landings were taking place at Calais, are on display with photographs of the heroes.
A briefcase belonging to Cambridge spy ring member Guy Burgess is also being shown in public for the first time.
It was one of two left behind by Burgess at the Reform Club when he defected to Russia with fellow traitor Donald Maclean in 1951.
Ring member Anthony Blunt, the Queen’s Picture Surveyor, collected one of the cases and gave it to MI5 after removing damning correspondence and papers.
MI5 officers collected the other case from the club which contained papers missed by Blunt and is now being displayed.
MI6 counter-espionage chief Kim Philby and Treasury civil servant John Cairncross were the other two members of the ring.
Original documents from their cases are also shown, including an original note from a confession Philby made in Beirut before he defected to Moscow in 1963.
There is also a copy of a letter in which a Soviet intelligence officer offered to defect in Istanbul and reveal British traitors – before being kidnapped by Russians alerted by Philby and taken back to Moscow with his wife to be executed.
An original radio transmitter, found buried in a Ruislip garden of two members of the Portland Spy Ring in the 1960’s, has been loaned by GCHQ for the exhibition.
The Soviet ring penetrated the Royal Navy’s Underwater Detection Establishment in Portland, Dorset, to obtain secrets about submarines.
They used two hollowed-out talcum power tins containing secret compartments for storing microdot messages, one of which is on display.
There are also files on show from the Klaus Fuchs atomic espionage case.
The exhibition charts MI5’s move into combatting terrorism from the 1970’s with exhibits including one of the mortar rockets fired at Downing Street by the IRA in 1991.
And there are papers on the 1988 Lockerbie disaster and the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in London.
MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum said the agency had released 6000 paper records to the country’s public records since 1997.
He said they provide “a unique glimpse into our operations and investigations, and shedding new light on our history.”
Sir Ken added: “From MI5’s origins as a team of two officers to the present day, we’ve been protecting the UK from the most serious threats to our national security for 115 years.
“That headline mission, and the values that underpin it, haven’t changed much. But how we keep the country safe is always evolving, always dynamic, always fascinating.”
Sir Ken stressed the reality of MI5’s work “is often different from fiction – whether that fiction is George Smiley or Jackson Lamb.”
He went on: “MI5 life is about ordinary human beings together doing extraordinary things to keep our country safe.
“Some of their stories and their perspectives come through in this exhibition and while much of our work must remain secret, what you’ll see today reflects our ongoing commitment to being open wherever we can.”
Saul Nassé, Chief Executive and Keeper of Public Records, said the exhibition is the result of “a unique collaboration” with MI5.
He said the stories which are told “spans the spectrum” of MI5’s role in protecting the UK, but added “the stories that caught my eye are the stories of individuals” – those of the officers and the spies they chased.
MI5: Official Secrets runs from Saturday 5 April to Sunday 28 September at The National Archives.
Daredevil: Born Again’s episode 7 saw some pretty intense stuff after Matt Murdock finally donned the suit in the previous episode. The anti-vigilante task force set up by Wilson Fisk gets a freebie after Dr. Heather Glenn shoots Muse in self-defense in front of Daredevil. Fisk sort of gets back to his criminal activities during […]
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