Afternoon briefing Thursday 14th May

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 Times Radio's afternoon briefing on Thursday 14th May. Wes Streeting has resigned as Health Secretary, saying he's lost confidence in the Prime Minister.

0:44In his two-page resignation letter, he said, Where we need vision, we have vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift. Mr Streeting becomes the first Cabinet member to resign in the wake of Labour's local election results last week, which led four ministers to quit. Despite Wes Streeting's resignation, a Labour leadership contest has not been triggered. That requires 81 MPs backing a particular challenger. Our political editor Anna Mihailova is outside number 10 and says if a contest is triggered, Mr Streeting doesn't want it closed to anybody. His team have confirmed that it is correct to assume that West Streeting wants Andy Burnham to be part of the contest.

1:22By saying to Keir Starmer in his letter that the contest to succeed, the Labour leader needs to be broad, where Streeting says that this needs to include Andy Burnham that has just been confirmed to Times Radio by his team. Former Labour adviser Matthew Torbett has told Times Radio a potential parliamentary seat has been identified for Mr Burnham. He would not move unless Wes did. Now whether that means he moves because Wes has resigned or is he going to wait for Wes to officially put his name forward with 81 names, I'm not sure. But he didn't want to be the first. I think the tactic would be the MP in mind has to resign today and then there has to be pressure on the General Secretary, the NEC and the Labour Party chair to allow for a longer timetable and maybe we do this over the summer.

2:11The Times understands Al Karns, the Armed Forces Minister, is also prepared to join a potential leadership race. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, could also be a contender. Angela Rayner's signalled she may also launch a challenge after claiming she's been exonerated by HMRC over the stamp duty controversy that led to her leaving government. She says she's paid back£40 ,000, but leading tax lawyer Dan Needle has questioned why she hasn't been fined on top of that. The facts here were that she obtained advice from two sets of lawyers. Both of them suggested she sought tax advice and she didn't take tax advice at the time.

2:46That's why the mistake was made. I said at the time I thought that was careless. Her statement today says HMRC have concluded it isn't careless and are not charging a penalty, and I can't explain why that is. The leader of the Green Party, Zach Polanski, says West Streeting would be more of the same but even worse. He added if Labour thinks West Streeting is the answer, they obviously don't know the question the country is asking. For continuing coverage and analysis of the unfolding drama in Westminster, listen to Times Radio.

3:20This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC. AI is everywhere. In 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 then i thought what if i've scaled businesses what if i scaled my philanthropy what if i did as much in one year as i've done in my whole life see how your wealth could have even greater meaning at creativeplanning.com slash impact impact.