Afternoon Briefing Thursday 26th March

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. Welcome to the Times Radio Afternoon Briefing for Thursday the 26th of March. The war in the Middle East is threatening to put the UK economy on the cusp of a recession this year.

0:44That's according to the OECD, which says economic growth will be cut from 1.2 % to 0.7. It's the worst downgrade among member nations. The eurozone and South Korea follow closely behind. Economist Linda Yu, though, says there is a hint of good news. Interestingly, they've actually left the forecast unchanged to 1.3 % growth for next year. So what that suggests is they don't expect this to be long-lasting and that's suggestive. It's more of an inflation hit rather than something more crisis-like. The Defence Secretary has told Times Radio he's proud of Britain's response to the conflict in the Middle East.

1:21John Healy says British pilots have now flown more than 1 ,000 hours in the last month on defensive missions. He also says he's proud of the teams that are pulling down Iranian drones. And he says HMS Dragon, the Royal Navy destroyer sent to the Mediterranean to help defend RAF Akrotiri, was prepared quickly. The naval crews worked and prepared HMS Dragon in six days, a maintenance program that would normally have taken six weeks so that Dragon could set sail. It is now integrated into the wider defence with the US, France, Greece and other allies that since the start of the conflict have also put ships into the eastern Mediterranean.

2:02It's helping protect our British base, but the whole of the Cyprus island. Gulf countries, meanwhile, are being attacked by Iran but are maintaining a defensive posture. Associated Press reporter Philip Crowther, who's in Dubai, says one of them could break ranks. It looks like Saudi Arabia is most likely to be the country that would be the first one to essentially side with the United States and Israel and might attack Iran. We're not quite there yet, but I think the general thinking here is this is not going to go on forever. The Gulf countries are not going to just accept being hit continuously by Iranian or at least attempts to be hit by Iranian missiles and drones.

2:42British commandos will now be able to board and stop vessels from Russia's shadow fleet as they pass through UK waters. Sir Keir Starmer says they can now join northern European allies in intercepting the tankers. The Prime Minister has been speaking at a summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force in Helsinki. Putin is rubbing his hands at the war in the Gulf and the rising oil prices. And that is why, in my strong view, we should go after the shadow fleet even harder. These old dilapidated ships carry 75 % of Russia's oil and they are helping to fund Putin's war. The UK has sanctioned over 500 of these vessels.

3:24And you can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. This 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.

4:05Discover more at pwc.co.uk