Afternoon briefing Monday 7th September

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 Monday, the 7th of September. The Chancellor, John Healy, has been setting out his vision of the UK economy.

0:43In a speech in Coventry, he said he wants to see this country as one of wealth creation. He's unveiled a£150 million fund for fast-growing northern firms. Too often, ideas born here in Britain have to go elsewhere to find the capital they need to grow. Meaning the jobs, the benefits, the intellectual property go elsewhere. So I'm setting an ambition now to double the number of unicorn firms in this country. I'll identify the next wave of unicorns with the state as the early first customer to ensure they have the necessary backing to scale. Only one in 100 asylum claims is genuine, according to a whistleblower speaking to The Times.

1:24The Home Office official, who's worked for years as an asylum decision-maker, says many people have the same script. He says hundreds of Pakistani men claiming to be gay said they were in a relationship with the same man. The Times' Home Affairs editor Matt Dathan wrote the story. The grant rates, the rate of asylum claims that are actually granted, has actually come down significantly. In the last year to June, the grant rate was 38%, and that's down from 77%. So the Home Office think about 38 % of claims are genuine, but this person who works inside the system is saying no more than 1%. Germany's hard-right AFD party has won the election in Saxony and Holt, but has fallen short of an overall majority according to provisional results.

2:10It's expected to get about 39 seats in an 83-seat state parliament. The AFD is often described as extreme. The Times' Berlin correspondent Oliver Moody has been analysing that claim. If you look at the detailed polling that emerged yesterday, more than 60 % of the voters who supported the AFD cannot really be categorised as right-wing extremists in any way. And yet the The AFD in Saxony-Anhalt is itself, from the domestic intelligence agency in the state, categorised as a definitely right-wing extremist party. So you have a massive contradiction there. And the business secretary says there'll be no bailouts for Jaguar Land Rover.

2:50Amid reports the UK's biggest car manufacturer is to cut 4 ,000 jobs. It's opening a redundancy programme for staff. Times Radio's business correspondent, Dominic O 'Connell, wonders whether JLR could move overseas. I think a long-term issue for the UK, and it is a very long-term issue, is how do you keep Jaguar Land Rover in the UK? Because it's expensive to manufacture here. Being made in the UK and all the intellectual property that's in the UK is a big plus for Jaguar Land Rover. But at some stage, I'd like to think about where they're based. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

3:34In 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.

4:33playing outside, or simply surviving a summer heat wave, it's an easy way to stay hydrated. Shop now at liquidiv.com. Liquid IV, hydration that goes wherever life takes you.