Afternoon Briefing Friday 24th October

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 afternoon briefing on Friday the 24th of October. The First Minister of Wales insists Labour will come back stronger after an historic defeat to Plaid Cymru in the Kavili by-election.

0:46Elened Morgan's party lost the seat for the first time since 1999. Despite coming second, Reforms candidate Cleo Powell insists his party will form the Welsh Government when elections are held in full next year. But Plaid's leader, Reen Apiorwath, has told Times Radio their victory is not just a flash in the pan. It comes off the back of Plaid Cymru's most successful UK general election result ever last year. It comes off the back of a period of deep, deep disillusionment in Labour and people making it clear that they were coming to us not just as a protest against Labour but because they were looking for a new home and feeling that they had a new home in Plaid Cymru.

1:25The Tories lost their deposit. Stephen Swinford, the Times' political editor, says there's almost nothing the Conservatives can take from this result. This is dismal for the Tories. It's 2%. So if you subscribe to the thesis that the era of two-party politics is dead, Labour and the Tories kind of dominating everything is over, this is very much evidence of that. And obviously in Wales you've got this additional party plied making significant inroads and looking like it's going to be a big factor next year. Grooming gang survivors may have to wait until next year for the government's national inquiry to get underway.

2:00The Times has learned it could take months to find someone to oversee it. Ministers have been forced to restart the process. Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Matt Vickers has told Times Radio it's a shambles. No timeline, no schedule, no chairman and no confidence from victims. It is devastating. We're up to five victims resigning from the panel. That is absolutely disgraceful. These girls deserve better. And we need to ensure this can never happen again. and the only way to do that is to see prosecutions for those involved, those who covered it up, those who let these girls down. A biology teacher has become the first MS patient in the UK to be treated with what's described as a game-changer therapy.

2:42The CAR T-cell treatment uses the individual's own modified cells to fight the disease. Emily Henders is one of 18 people around the world taking part in the first trial of its kind. The 37-year-old from Hertfordshire says she's willing to do anything that might help to find a cure. Being in a wheelchair and not being able to chase after my children or not being able to walk up and down the stairs every day is something that I want to avoid at all costs. So I'm kind of subjecting myself to this, but I know in the long run I want to stop it before it has a chance to stop me. And you can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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