Afternoon briefing Thursday 16th October

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 Afternoon Briefing for Thursday 16th October. MPs are going to hold an inquiry into why prosecutions against men accused of spying for China were dropped.

0:44In an urgent question in Parliament on the case, the government said it was the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service alone not to prosecute the two British men. Chris Ward, the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, gave this statement to MPs. Mr Speaker, it is clear from this evidence, which all can now see, that the DNSA took significant strides to articulate the threat from China in support of the prosecution. The decision to proceed, as the Prime Minister made it clear yesterday, was taken purely by the CPS. It is also clear that the three statements are constrained by the position of the Conservative government on China at the time of the alleged offences.

1:20However, Shadow Minister Neil O 'Brien told MPs that security statements made this year did the opposite of what they said. They weakened the CPS's ability to prosecute as more common ground with China is highlighted. The PM said yesterday that he was utterly constrained by the position of the previous government. And every expert had already contradicted the PM on this. But we can now see that the two witness statements from this year did state the position of the current Labour government. A direct contradiction of what the Prime Minister said yesterday. And the evidence includes lines from Labour's manifesto.

1:51They weakened the case. It makes it less clear that China is a threat to our national security. That's one of the things that changed. One of the documents from this year says the two countries benefit from trade and investment, but also says China is the biggest state-based threat to the UK's economic security. The two British men, Chris Cash and Chris Berry, deny the charges. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says Rachel Reeves should think about doing something big to increase revenue, such as tax rises or a big spending cut, if she wants to avoid doing little changes every few months. The IFS is giving a pre-budget briefing and says the Chancellor may need to raise about£40 billion to avoid a fiscal Groundhog Day next year.

2:33The director, Helen Miller, told Times Radio it's difficult to balance different groups' interests. One thing she might want to do is look at capital taxes, so taxes on dividends or capital gains or landlords, because she wants to stick to her working person pledge maybe, and not increase income tax on national insurance or VAT. But if she just raises one of those taxes, she raises capital gains or dividend taxes, she is just going to directly reduce investment incentives. There's a straightforward trade-off there. A book by Virginia Jufre, who took her own life six months ago, details her alleged night with Prince Andrew, saying he was friendly enough but still entitled, as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright.

3:12She claims she was 17 when she was paid$15 ,000 by paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew. He has always denied the allegations. Royal editor at The Times, Kate Mansi, says the book, Nobody's Girl, is disturbing. She talks about the fact that she was a 17-year-old girl, which we knew, but the fact that she wanted to dress in kind of a sequence in a kind of Britney Spears type way. And Ghislaine Maxwell, she claims, told her to kind of dress more appropriately, you know, more grown up. And it's those little details. I think it's damning in the details. For more stories like this, listen throughout the day to Times Radio.

3:54This 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.

4:37Evening. Buyer's remorse. Buy a new car? I'll be moving in. Let's get started. Sorry, I think there's been a mistake. I bought it from Carvana. You what? Yeah, great price. I even have seven days to love it or return it. So there's no... No, no buyer's remorse. More like buyer's rejoice. I guess I'll let myself out. Congratulations. I mean it. Buyer's rejoice. Buy your car today on Carvana. Limitations and exclusions may apply. See our seven-day return policy at Carvana.com.