Afternoon Briefing Friday 26th 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 26th of June. Immigration Minister Mike Tapp says he won't be intimidated to drop his views on migration after publishing an unauthorised article in The Times.

0:48He says migrant care workers should not have to wait longer for settled status under reforms set out by his boss, the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood. But she is urging the Prime Minister to sack Mike Tapp. The Times' Home Affairs editor, Matt Dathan, broke the story. He says the care workers could cost the UK a lot of money. Migration advisors of the Home Office have calculated or estimated that each care worker who does settle is going to cost a net£36 ,000 over the course of their lifetime. And as we know, they've brought a lot of dependents and family members with them. And each family member, on average, is going to cost£67 ,000 net cost to the country.

1:28A psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia who killed six people when he drove into crowds at a Christmas market in Germany has been sentenced to life in prison. The man, named Taleb A., in line with German privacy laws, drove through the market in a rented BMW in Magdeburg in December 2024. He'd been in Germany since 2006 and is believed to have acted alone. Philipp Peplow survived the attack and says it's shaken his sense of safety. When I'm going to a festival, I think about this man. I think, is it safe here? Can I go here? Can I stay here? The King and Queen won't be moving into Buckingham Palace once renovations costing hundreds of millions of pounds are complete.

2:13They should be finished next year according to the latest royal accounts. The palace has been the official home of the monarch since 1837. The Times' royal editor Kate Mancy explains why Charles and Camilla won't be taking up residence. It's never been a favourite for the royal family. It's drafty, it's not very homely. In 1952 when Queen Elizabeth II came onto the throne, and it was Winston Churchill who had to persuade her to move in with her family for symbolic reasons. It's never been a favourite, but the king and his team are saying it will still be used as officers, it will still be very much the kind of monarchy HQ, they call it.

2:49And a van driver has become an unexpected hero in a police chase in Kent. A suspect was being pursued on foot when the driver pulled over to let an armed officer jump in the back. Get in the back, get in the back. Go, go, go, go. I'm going, I'm going. Go, go, go. Cheers, buddy. Follow that police officer. They managed to get ahead of the suspect before the officer jumped back out and was able to arrest him. The van driver said he was happy to help. Thank you. Cheers, buddy. We'll get on with doing the rest of it, but thank you very much for your assistance. That was quite exhilarating. See you later.

3:20I hope the rest of your day is a bit calmer. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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