Afternoon briefing Thursday 24th September

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 24th September. The open caseload in magistrates' courts has increased 9 % in a year to 380 ,200 open cases.

0:48The median average time from charge to completion at magistrates' courts remains high at 50 days. Open cases at Crown Court level have also increased to nearly 89 ,000, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Justice. A large seat-by-seat poll suggests that if there was an election today, there would be a hung parliament, with Labour needing to form a coalition. The YouGov MRP poll puts Labour on 241 MPs, down from 403, but up from a prediction a year ago. It also downgrades reforms prospects from 2025, when they were projected to get 311 MPs, it's now 123, and former Conservatives Suella Bravman and Robert Jenrick are forecast to lose their seats.

1:31Reforms Deputy Leader Richard Tice told Times Radio he wasn't worried. At the end of the day, Robert will be re-elected and our plan is to secure a majority government. Things go up and down. We've had an interesting summer, let's say that. That's the nature of it. But who knows when the election will be, whether it's early part of next year, whenever, or whether it goes long through until 29. We'll be ready. The good news is we've raised the money, so now we're cracking on, we're selecting candidates. Anti-migrant protester Danny Tomo is in custody after being arrested on suspicion of destroying ships or endangering their safety and of criminal damage with intent to endanger life, according to Hampshire police.

2:11Footage shows a man slashing a dinghy that still had a migrant rescue worker on board after passengers from France had left the small boat. Residents living near a chemical factory in Lancashire have hugely elevated levels of banned chemicals in their blood. 49 people living within half a mile of the AGC chemicals plant in Thornton, Cleveleys, have had blood tests and 70 % of them are classed as at high risk of health problems and none are classed as low risk. These people were among them. I'm shocked. So I'm in the 99th percentile of the population. The above marker is 20, I think it's milligrams, and mine was 75.

2:52I have suffered a lot of ill health since moving on to Holy Garden. all to do with autoimmune diseases, underactive thyroid, etc. I'd be very angry if it is because of contaminants, really. The only thing I'm worried about is telling my kids, oh, my kids are not kids anymore, grown up and not kids of their own, but my kids lived with me and they vet everything that I vet out of the garden, which is where it's obviously come from. AGC Chemicals say the tests don't predict people's future health and says it's prioritising local welfare. You can hear more on The Story podcast. For more stories like this, listen throughout the day to Times Radio.

3:55That'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. Saturday, September 26th, two of combat sports' most dangerous strikers collide. Bare Knuckle. Liverpool's own Darren the Gorilla Till goes to war with Cuban powerhouse Yoel Soldier of God Romero. Plus the bare knuckle middleweight championship of the world is on the line when the reigning champ Dave the Redneck Mundell defends against undefeated British challenger Jack the Meek Pleaver Cullen.

4:38BKFC 94 Till vs. Romero. Watch it live only on DAZN. Sign up now at DAZN.com