Afternoon Briefing Thursday 12th March

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 Thursday, the 12th of March. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenock, is claiming that Sir Keir Starmer lied to the Commons about Peter Mandelson.

0:44Mandelson had close ties to the paedophile financier, Geoffrey Epstein. The Prime Minister has said he was misled by the now former British ambassador to Washington, but Mrs Badenock says the Mandelson file suggests otherwise. He's been shown to have lied to the Commons. He told everyone that he did not know the full extent of Peter Mandelson's relationship with the convicted paedophile, Geoffrey Epstein. and now we can see from the release of these files that that is not true. It is a shame that there are not enough opposition MPs to remove the Prime Minister. Labour MPs now need to consider their position and ask themselves in good conscience, should this man be running our country?

1:22Mandelson denies any wrongdoing. A government minister has told Times Radio he shares the public's moral outrage over the payout given to Peter Mandelson. Maddelson demanded£550 ,000 and got£75 ,000 when he was sacked as Britain's ambassador to Washington. Officials said it was good value for money. Nick Thomas-Simmons says a decision had to be taken about process. Frankly, I share the moral outrage that I'm sure that many of your listeners feel, knowing that in these circumstances, Peter Maddelson is in possession of that money. You had a request for well over half a million pounds, 547 ,000 pounds on the one side.

2:03Legal advice was taken about the risk of going to an employment tribunal, where, of course, generally you're not able to recover your own legal costs. Oil prices have risen again, going above$100 a barrel for the second time this week. They've since dropped back to$96. Iran is warning the price could reach$200 a barrel. There have been further Iranian attacks on ships in the region overnight. Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at the insurance company Allianz, was asked how concerned we should be about economic damage. Very concerned. There's no doubt that the first impact of this war is higher energy prices and higher borrowing costs, higher interest rates, higher mortgage rates.

2:44That is phase one. As we continue, you will add to that higher inflation across the board, lower growth and higher unemployment. And you can follow The Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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4:21McDonald's at the FIFA World Cup 2026.