Afternoon briefing Friday 1st August

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. This is the Times Afternoon Briefing for Friday 1st August. The Crime and Policing Minister Diana Johnson says plans are already in place to combat a record number of foreigners in prisons in England and Wales.

0:47Figures from the Ministry of Justice show that more than 10 ,700 criminals and suspects who were behind bars at the end of June or one in eight of all prisoners were born overseas. They cost an estimated£580 million a year and analysts said the increase had been fuelled by record immigration since 2020. Speaking to Times Radio, Ms Johnson highlighted the measures to tackle the small boats problem. Developing that relationship with the French, our piloting of this returns policy, which we've not had since obviously we left the EU. We've also got the Borders Security Asylum and Immigration Bill going through Parliament, which is going to use some of the counter-terrorism powers that currently exist and apply them to these serious organised criminal gangs.

1:30West Yorkshire Police have arrested 10 men as part of its investigation into non-recent reports of child sexual abuse. The men, aged between 49 and 71, were detained at addresses in Bradford. All have been released on bail. A ruling by the UK's most senior judges later could see millions of drivers claiming payouts for missold car finance. The Supreme Court will determine whether customers have been deceived over hidden commissions paid to dealerships. Sam Ward is a legal representative who helped expose the scandal. They expect that the car salesperson is going to earn their money from selling the car.

2:07And what actually transpired was that people were earning the money from selling you the finance. And we've seen examples of this going all the way up to£16 ,000 worth of commission being hidden in a single agreement. It's understood the government is considering legislation to limit the fallout. Jeremy Clarkson has accused the government of turning its back on the farming industry and not caring. His diddly squat farm, which features in the Prime video series Clarkson's Farm, has been struck down with bovine TB. Speaking to Times Radio, he said the infected cow is pregnant with twins and that tests for an Aberdeen Angus bull were inconclusive.

2:48We have no one really in the British government that cares the slightest bit about farming. I often wonder, you know, because there's an entire government department set up to deal with it and address it, but I often think that government departments, their principal function is to exist. So they just have to invent new ways of making sure that they can not just exist, but get bigger and more powerful and more bossy. And the European Court of Justice has ruled that EU countries may fast-track asylum rejections for nationals of so-called safe countries, but only if it allows applicants and courts to access and challenge the evidence.

3:25The case before the EU's top court involved two Bangladeshi nationals who were rescued at sea by the Italian authorities before being transferred to a detention centre in Albania. Their asylum claims were rejected based on Italy's classification of Bangladesh as a safe country. You can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

3:51This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC. AI is everywhere. In the news, in our hands, but return on investment, not so much. So how do you get beyond the hype and deliver AI that powers reinvention and growth across your business? Strong foundations unlock AI's potential. That's why PwC takes you further with tech, strengthening the data quality, processes and workflows that shape how well AI performs. PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk.