Afternoon Briefing Thursday 20th August

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

0:35This is the Times News Briefing for Thursday 20th August. In a move that surprised commentators, the Sussexes are heading back to the UK and their children are enrolled to start school in September. It's thought Harry and Meghan will live in a private residence, not get taxpayer money but continue with their own businesses. Here's Royal Historian and Commentator Ed Owens. This is a significant Royal U-turn and I think to some extent this is about the ongoing search for a role. We know that since Harry and Meghan have been outside the institution, no longer working royals, going right back to 2020, they've sought to rebrand themselves time and again with some difficulty.

1:15And I think this is the latest iteration of an attempt to bring meaning to their lives. GCSE results are out. 70 % of those taken by girls were awarded a Level 4, equivalent to a C or above, compared to 64 % of GCSEs taken by boys. The gap between genders has narrowed in the last 25 years. The Education Secretary Lucy Powell has promised to crack down on the GCSE reset system, which she calls pernicious, and instead encourage new stepping stone qualifications. former Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove told Times Radio Powell's broader reforms risk lowering standards. I would never want to belittle any achievement, but the education system needs to consistently raise the bar.

2:02And it's only by expecting more of the system and encouraging more children to achieve that we give them the opportunity to have a wider range of choice as adults about what it is that they want to do. The Home Secretary says she wants to implement a fair spread of asylum accommodation as she prepares to house more migrants in wealthy areas. She's told the Times no one type of community should bear the brunt for housing them. But a leaflet about how to treat women, which is given to asylum seekers, is causing anger. Times newsroom reporter Olly Cole explains. The official Home Office guidance sets out what is expected of migrants when living in the UK, and it includes pages about consent, which says that rape is a crime, as is sex with children and domestic abuse.

2:47It also says women and men are treated equally in the UK and spells out that women can make their own choices. Opposition parties say the pamphlet is a disgrace and shows the government sees asylum seekers as a menace. The Home Office says it expects everyone who comes to the UK to abide by our laws. The Travelodge CEO has stepped down. Jo Boydell was heavily criticised for how she handled an incident in which one of its guests was sexually assaulted by a man who'd been given a keycard to her room in 2022. Sir Kiyosama urged her to seriously engage with the government while he was Prime Minister after she cancelled a meeting earlier this year.

3:23The company says it has been overhauling its safety procedures since then. And four-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen has ended months of speculation by signing a new contract at Red Bull. The driver has been linked with a move to either Mercedes or McLaren, but the new deal, announced ahead of this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix, keeps Verstappen at Red Bull till 2030. For more on this throughout the day, listen to Times Radio.

3:58This 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

5:03Lab.