A female fire brigade worker has sued for harassment after her male boss made a remark about his wife having a Mulberry handbag just like hers. Tayba Amber accused Martin McCarthy of being a ‘𝑠e𝑥ual predator’ after his comment during a meeting about her return to work from sick leave, an employment tribunal heard. After noticing the high-end fashion accessory, he asked her if she would later be going to the Mulberry shop – where bags can cost more than £1,500 – and said he had spent a ‘considerable amount of money’ on handbags for his wife.

A British man faces 25 years in a Dubai prison after he accepted money ‘to go shopping’ from an alleged drug dealer. Self-proclaimed millionaire Waseem Khan, 22, spent over two months locked in a ‘hell hole’ cell with 200 inmates at the notorious Al Barsha jail before he was released on bail following his arrest. The crypto investor – who has been forced to shell out £30,000 on legal fees – was detained on September 4 when police raided his luxury apartment.

Labour’s plunge in popularity since the election has been laid bare in an analysis of council contests. Keir Starmer’s candidates have won just 53 of the 150 seats up for grabs on local authorities since July 4 – having previously held 75. Meanwhile, the Tories have boosted their tally by 21 to 44, and Reform have gained  five.

Sir Keir Starmer today refused to say that taxes will not rise again despite Rachel Reeves making the pledge to business. In bad-tempered clashes at PMQs, the premier insisted he was ‘not going to write the next five years of Budgets right here at this despatch box’. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch swiped that the burden would inevitably rise again under Labour – and also goaded Sir Keir over millions of Brits signing a petition demanding a fresh general election.

Butchers at Smithfield Market told of their devastation today as City bosses took the decision to close the world’s oldest meat market after 900 years at the heart of London life. Traders at the iconic English institution, which will close along with Billingsgate fish market – itself established in 1850 – described the move as a ‘sad day’ for the capital and a ‘nightmare’ for them personally. Butcher Joe Howgate, 25, told MailOnline: ‘It’s been here for 800 or 900 years, it’s not nice the corporation has said “it’s done”. It’s sad for London, there is a lot of history here, it’s a long time and for them to say ‘‘that’s it, we’re going to call it a day’’ is sad and unusual.’

Britain’s car industry is in crisis due to a lack of demand for electric cars, the boss of Ford’s UK arm has warned. Lisa Brankin, the chairman and managing director of Ford UK, called for the Government to urgently introduce ‘incentives’ such as tax breaks to convince drivers to switch away from petrol and diesel. She said Ford has invested ‘significantly’ in the production and development of EVs, with ‘well over’ £350million invested around electrification in the UK, adding: ‘So we kind of need to make it work.’