Afternoon briefing Thursday 16th July

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 your Times Radio news briefing for the afternoon of Thursday the 16th of July. British Steel is now owned by the people, with a minister describing nationalisation in the House of Commons as the only viable route.

0:46On Times Radio this morning, the Business Secretary Peter Kyle said that public ownership is worth it for the sake of the ability to build infrastructure, with him having initially stepped in to rescue the Scunthorpe plant last year. I am supporting the business here and I have been to the tune of about a million pounds a day. I didn't take this decision lightly. I've taken these decisions on support but also nationalisation because I realise how critical steel is to our country, to our infrastructure and to the economic underpinnings of growth. The Lib Dems have welcomed the move but want to know how its previous Chinese owner will be compensated.

1:23Minister Blair MacDougall responded by saying it might not get anything. This is a company which has been running at a loss for some time. That said, we will, through regulations in the autumn, appoint an independent valuer to make a judgment on any compensation that is due, and that could be nil. Polling suggests that the cost of living is the thing most Labour members want Andy Burnham to focus on when he becomes Prime Minister, likely next week, followed by the NHS. The economy and defence were the next most important to them. Just 4 % of the 750 members asked want him to prioritise devolution.

2:08Our reporter in the Times newsroom, Olly Cole, explains what we could expect. We're starting to get more of a sense now of what Andy Burnham might do once he gets the keys to number 10, something that, remember, is only a few days away. He's told the former England footballer, Gary Lineker, at some point he might have to ask people to pay a little more, though he said those decisions are for another day. Another thing it looks like he'll be asking is for government departments to give away some of their land for council housing. It's something successive governments have looked at but have struggled to find an acceptable way forward.

2:39And if Burnham does go for it, it's likely to cause a rift between the Treasury and the rest of Whitehall. Conservative politicians are capitalising on the political statement made by the Argentinian football team last night by posting that the Falkland Islands are British. The team held up a banner saying they were Argentinian. The sports minister says last night's pathetic stunt by the Argentinian team was shameful and FIFA must throw the book at them. Thames Water is seeking creditor approval to gain access to an additional£677 million. It would take total commitments secured under agreements from lenders to about£3 billion.

3:14The country's biggest water supplier said yesterday it could run out of money in a few months. Ofcom says significant progress has been made in preventing children seeing pornography since age verification checks came in, but that it's launching an investigation into TikTok. The regulator says it has particular concerns over TikTok's methods to check users' age, which rely on assessing their engagement and account history rather than any biometric data or ID documents. For more stories like this, listen throughout the day to Times Radio.

3:49This 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 You've got social dialed in. Search is doing its thing.

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