Afternoon briefing for Wednesday 24th June

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0:35This is your Times Afternoon Briefing on Wednesday 24th June. An inquiry into maternity care has found more than 500 mothers and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm or died due to deeply embedded systemic failures at a toxic hospital trust. The review, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, found leaders at Nottingham University Hospital's NHS Trust knew there were serious issues that failed to take action. A rare red warning for extreme heat has come into force in parts of England and Wales. It's the most severe level of alert, meaning the weather could bring a risk to life. It'll remain in place until tomorrow evening.

1:12The Met Office has issued another amber warning for heat on Friday as the hot weather looks set to linger. Commuters are told to expect disruption as trains run at reduced speed and hundreds of schools across the country have closed as a result of the heatwave. Architect Nicholas Boyes-Smith, a former government planning advisor, told Times Radio modern schools and homes in Britain aren't designed for this weather. They've lightweight walls, large areas of glass, sealed windows and insulation designed mainly to retain heat. As summer's become hotter, we need shade, shutters, opening windows, high ceilings and materials that naturally regulate temperature.

1:49Oldham, Bradford, Keighley and London are to be the first towns and cities investigated by the grooming gang's inquiry. Accountability hearings will begin this year with individuals and institutions compelled to explain what they did or didn't do to protect children from being sexually abused. The first phase will focus on why previously identified lessons didn't lead to change. Andy Burnham's route to Downing Street will be clearer after Darren Jones ruled himself out of the race to become Labour leader. Meanwhile, former minister under Tony Blair, James Purnell, has confirmed he's likely to become Mr Burnham's chief of staff.

2:23Elsewhere, a former chief of general staff, the professional head of the British Army, has told Times Radio a defence investment plan must be published, even if it needs changing later. Sir Patrick Sanders told us it should not wait for a new prime minister. This is going to be months and months of yet more studying, analysing, arguments with the Treasury, discussions with industry, and we have wasted so much time since the Strategic Defence Review, and actually beyond that because of course the election put a kink in what should have been a progression towards the sort of spending levels that we need to make sure that we can keep ourselves safe.

2:59Sir Keir Starmer consulted the cabinet secretary over the constitutional implications of publishing the defence investment plan soon despite him leaving office in the next few weeks. A study suggests the number of deaths in London linked to toxic air has fallen by around 40 % in five years, a period that includes the expansion of ULEZ. Researchers at Imperial College London estimate that in 2019 deaths were approximately between six and a half and eight thousand. By 2024 the number had fallen to approximately between four and five thousand. And just five minutes walk an hour is apparently enough to offset the harms of sitting down.

3:35A large study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found it also boosted moods and reduced fatigue. And don't forget you can set the Times Radio News Briefing as your news service on Alexa. That's your Times Afternoon Briefing on Wednesday the 24th of June.

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