Top economist quits after crack house drug claims

Professor McWilliams has stepped down to deal with 'issues'
Professor McWilliams has stepped down to deal with 'issues'
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD

One of Britain’s leading economists is to step down from an influential think-tank after allegedly being filmed taking crack cocaine.

Douglas McWilliams, 63, was reportedly seen smoking the Class A drug last weekend during a visit to a crack house in north London.

Professor McWilliams, a cheerleader of the chancellor George Osborne, will resign as executive chairman of the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) this week “to deal with issues I have not had the chance to address fully”.

He has separately been charged with assaulting a prostitute on New Year’s Eve, but denies the allegation made by Beverley Shearon, 47, that he assaulted her at her flat in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

In January Ms Shearon claimed that the incident occurred after drugs