Afternoon briefing Monday 8th 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. This is the Times afternoon briefing on Monday 8th September. Labour's National Executive Committee is meeting to agree a timeline for the election to replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader MPs will start to launch their candidacies this week and are expected to urge Sir Keir Starmer to listen more to his soft left back benches The Times' political editor Stephen Swinford says there's a good chance the winner won't be an ally of the Prime Minister Almost everyone that is standing for that deputy leadership and in with a chance of winning has significant grudges to bear against Keir Starmer It's like literally the people in a room that probably dislike him the most and all of them could be about to become deputy leader of the party and all of them, to a T, would be opposed to further, deeper welfare cuts.

1:18At least six people have been killed and 11 injured in a mass shooting in Jerusalem. Israeli police say two attackers have been shot dead. Political analyst Arya Kovale says it's not yet clear who they were. We don't know yet if they were acting for an organisation. I will say when you see two people armed with what seem to be automatic weapons, you know, submachine guns, that normally suggest some kind of organisation behind them. You know, it's not one person going on a staffing rampage. It suggests a level of backing and financing, but that has not yet been failed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited the scene.

1:56A former army sergeant has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 19-year-old soldier who later took her own life. Jaisley Beck was found dead at Larkhill Barracks in Wiltshire in 2021 after accusing Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber of pinning her down and trying to kiss her at a work social event. The report has found a culture of denial around bullying and sexual harassment in the legal profession in England and Wales. Written by the Labour peer Harriet Harman, it says decisive and radical steps are needed to end a culture of impunity and collusive bystanding at the bar. The Bar Council has welcomed the report.

2:32The government is promising to boost economic growth through defence spending as it launches its defence industrial strategy. Times Radio's business correspondent Dominic O 'Connell looks through the numbers. £250 million being split between five regional deals, Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. And if, like me, you're thinking, well,£250 million doesn't sound like an awful lot, well, that rather catches the general reaction of the defence industry to the government spending plans. It all sounds great, but where is the money? France's Prime Minister is expected to lose a vote of no confidence this evening.

3:06François Beirut's only been in office for nine months. From Paris, the Times' Charles Bremner says it's been prompted by his attempts to cut government spending and debt. There is no general consensus among the political parties or the public that there is a crisis. François Beirut attempted to persuade the country and the other parties to cut spending. He wanted to cut 44 billion euros off the budget this year. The other parties all disagreed. They've seized the occasion to get rid of him. If the vote passes, France will get its fifth prime minister in just two years. And the super-Trump frontman Rick Davies has died aged 81.

3:42His vocals and his Wurlitzer were heard on hits like Breakfast in America, which he co-wrote, and The Logical Song. Don't forget to subscribe to The Times News Briefing on Spotify or listen live to Times Radio online.

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