Afternoon Briefing Friday 19th June

0:00This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwCWC. Staying competitive means getting ahead, not just keeping up. So how do business leaders cut through the noise and focus on what really matters. PwC takes you further with tech, from optimising the systems that put your data to work, to scaling AI from proof of concept to competitive edge. PwC helps you meet tomorrow's tech demands so you can compete at a speed that rewrites the rules. Discover more at pwc.co.uk. Welcome to the Times Radio afternoon briefing on Friday the 19th of June. Andy Burnham says he will lay out a new path for Britain following his win in the Makerfield by-election.

0:45Speaking at a victory rally, he did not mention Downing Street, but did make some strong hints about where he wants to go next. The word Makerfield in the future must be known as a byword for the change that came to British politics. This is the moment. We've been on a path for 40 years that simply hasn't worked for people and places in this part of the world. and this now is the change moment. We have an opportunity to turn the tide, to make the country feel like it's working again. But the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, says his government is achieving great things. We had a mandate two years ago to carry out change and we've done incredible things.

1:26Two years ago, people said to me, it's not possible to stabilise the economy and invest in your public services and bring down weightiness. You're going to have to choose one or the other. We've done both. Two years ago, people said to me, It's not possible to get migration down from the level that the Tories left it at, which was nearly a million. We've brought it down to a fifth of that number. He's showing no signs of standing down. The Times' political editor is Stephen Swinford. Do not underestimate his state of mind. I was talking to a cabinet minister this morning and they were saying, I feel like we're going to have to drag him out with his fingernails on the threshold.

2:02Just drag him out the building. And you're going to get into this next 72 hours this week that whole pressure that goes back to Gordon Brown when he was accused of squatting in Number 10. The election analyst Sir John Curtis has told Times Radio what might happen next. For Keir Starmer to be able to survive, he first of all needs to retain the confidence of the House of Commons and the question in the next few days is whether or not the emphatic nature of Mr Burnham's victory means that indeed enough Labour MPs tell the whips that up with Sir Keir they're no longer willing to put. In another by-election, the Conservatives have won Aberdeen South with a majority of just over 6 ,000 votes.

2:42It's their first by-election win in Scotland in more than 50 years. Tory MP Andrew Bowie has told Times Radio his party won because of its focus on North Sea oil and gas. Overwhelmingly, it was because of the simple message that we are the only party fighting for the industry that is so totemic to this city and this part of the world, an industry that the local economy of Aberdeen relies upon and that is seeing thousands of jobs being lost every month because of government policy emanating from London. The SNP retains the constituency of Arbroath and Broughty Ferry. The party's candidate, Lara Bird, won just over 40 % of the vote there.

3:19In her victory speech, she told her constituents she's ready to get to work. We have demanded more for our community and our nation than Westminster can ever offer us. And with every day that passes, I become more certain that we will win our nation's independence.

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