Afternoon briefing Friday 20th February

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0:36This is the Times Radio afternoon briefing for Friday the 20th of February. Unmarked police vans have been seen at Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's former home, Royal Lodge in Berkshire. He's back at home in Sandringham after his arrest yesterday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. But as the Thames Valley Police investigation continues, Buckingham Palace faces a crisis. The Sunday Times' Royal Editor Roya Nicker says it'll be difficult for the Royal family to continue business as usual. I feel like there needs to be some sort of acknowledgement of the seismic nature of what's going on here.

1:08And if this was to go one step further, the implications that that might have for the monarchy in terms of what questions they might have to answer from who will be really, really difficult. Things are not going to be the same again in the relationship between the royal family and the public going forwards. Andrew was released last night after being held for around 12 hours, but remains under investigation. He's always denied wrongdoing. Former Old Bailey judge Wendy Joseph KC told Times Radio officers will now be considering whether there's evidence to charge Andrew. They may call him back for further interview, under arrest or not, at any stage.

1:43If they do call him back for further interview, it's quite likely it will be under arrest. And then eventually they will have to make a decision as to whether the material which they've put together they believe is sufficient to put before a jury. The Foreign Secretary is to meet today with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the Chagos Islands. Yvette Cooper's meeting comes as the Prime Minister is understood to be blocking the use of bases on British territories to attack Iran, arguing it could be a breach of international law. That's believed to have prompted Donald Trump to pull his support for the government's deal to hand the territory to Mauritius.

2:18Shadow Scotland Secretary Andrew Bowie says the Conservatives would let the U.S. use the bases. Our closest military ally, the United States of America, is not asking us to join them. It's asking for access to British bases so they can launch a targeted strike on Iranian soil. And I think it's a gross dereliction of duty from the British government to be taking a position that will not support them in that aim. In a boost for the Chancellor, government borrowing figures have come out better than expected in January. The Office for National Statistics says the surplus is the highest since records began more than 30 years ago.

2:54There was also a surge in retail sales, up 1.8 % in January, well ahead of economists' expectations. UK Athletics has pleaded guilty to a corporate manslaughter charge over the death of a Paralympic athlete in 2017. It's after a metal cage fell on Emirati athlete Abdullah Hayyai at a training ground in London. and american scientists think a new vaccine that could protect against colds flu allergies and covid may be a game changer the nasal spray has been tested on mice at stanford university and could come to market within eight years if researchers carry out human clinical trials you can follow the times radio news briefing on spotify and listen live to times radio online

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