Afternoon Briefing Friday 14th August

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0:47The Parliamentary Standards Commission has resumed its investigation into the reform leader following his by-election victory. The watchdog's looking into the financial support he received before the 2024 general election. The Times' chief political commentator is Patrick Maguire. Reform are entering a new era, a harder-to-quantify era, of basically sort of conscientious objection to the strictures of modern politics, of conventional politics, of Westminster politics. You know, it's disregarding parliamentary investigations, disregarding the media, disregarding all the rules we expect politicians to play by.

1:25The reform leader announced he wouldn't be attending the declaration following a credible threat, but it's understood Essex police did not advise him to stay away. Firefighters in the West Midlands say they're setting up exclusion zones around buildings affected by wildfires. Flames engulfed several properties in Stourbridge with four people, including a child, taken to hospital. Richard Stanton is Assistant Chief Fire Officer at West Midlands Fire Service. The temperatures that are being experienced this year and the number of incidents that we're having to attend, I would describe as being unprecedented for us.

2:01We've had crews deployed across the West Midlands over the last few weeks. We've had them supporting fire and rescue services up and down the country as well. Meanwhile, investigators are looking into whether the hot weather caused a train to derail in East Sussex yesterday afternoon. Two people were seriously injured after at least three carriages flipped over near Lewis. Local councillor Christine Robertson told Times Radio the effects may be long-lasting. All I can say is thank goodness that it was starting to slow down as it was coming. It was about a mile away from Lewis Station. As you know, trains have to start slowing down.

2:37It's quite devastating. And not only that, the psychological problems for people that were on that train, a bit like after the Clapham Rail disaster. And all I can say is thank goodness that we had no fatalities. A mother who killed her three-month-old daughter by burning her with a hairdryer has been jailed for six years. The court heard 28-year-old Courtney Garzell use the appliance to subject Dalia Rose to significant and sustained heat on her head and body. The baby was found unresponsive at a flat in Peterhead in Aberdeenshire in September 2023. A man who was jailed for life 23 years ago for murdering his estranged wife will remain in prison, reversing the parole board's decision to release him.

3:21Glyn Razzle killed his partner Lyndon in Swindon in 2002, but her body's never been recovered. The High Courts agreed with the government's argument that the parole board failed to properly assess the risk he poses. New Zealand's Football Federation's the latest to withdraw its support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino. They follow similar moves by the governing bodies of England, Wales and Ireland. Remember, you can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online.

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