Afternoon Briefing Thursday 4th 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. Welcome to the Times Afternoon Briefing on Thursday, the 4th of September. The Chancellor says she has full confidence in the Deputy Prime Minister.

0:42Times Radio understands that an investigation into Angela Rayner's tax affairs could be completed later today. The Deputy PM referred herself to the Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards. She's admitted failing to pay a£40 ,000 tax bill on her second home. Rachel Reeves says Rayner has her backing. I have full confidence in Angela Rayner. She's a good friend and a colleague. She has accepted the right stamp duty wasn't paid. That was an error. That was a mistake. She is working hard now to rectify that in contact with HMRC to make sure that the correct tax is paid. Bridget Philipson, the Education Secretary, has been talking to Times Radio.

1:24She's also given Angela Rayner her backing. We all in public life pulled ourselves to high standards. Angela has acted, she believes in good faith, but is now seeking to put that situation right around the stamp duty. I'm very proud to be working alongside Angela. I know how much she cares about making life better for working people in our country, especially given where she's come from and where she's got to. And the work that she's doing on housing, everything around workers' rights and making life better for families is incredibly important to her and that's something I share. Eight women and seven men have been identified among the 17 people confirmed to have died when a funicular railway derailed in Lisbon last night.

2:04It's one of the Portuguese capital's big tourist attractions. The first victim has been named as the vehicle's brakeman, Andre Marquez. Sky News Europe correspondent Alistair Bunkle, who's there, says it's still unclear what happened. The funicular carriage is still on its side, still on the street where it came to rest, mangled. It came round the corner, we think, at high speed when whatever happened caused it to crash. They haven't yet said what they think the cause of the crash was. An AI assistant being trialled in hospitals has enabled staff to spend almost 25 % more time with patients. Led by Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, the tech, known as Tortoise, was used to transcribe appointments.

2:48It meant staff were able to focus more on care during an appointment and spend less time writing up their notes. Steve Matthew is head of innovation at Great Ormond Street. I think this is a very, very good example of where innovation is helping the healthcare system because in a very financially challenging climate where a lot of NHS trusts are being asked to deliver more with what they have, I think technologies such as AI Scribes are going to enable us to do that. And you can follow the Times News briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC.

3:28AI 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. Hi, I'm Katie Prescott from the Times Tech Podcast, which is currently sponsored by IBM. IBM has worked with Wimbledon for more than 30 years, helping the championships use data and AI to create more engaging digital experiences for fans.

4:19That includes tools like Match Chat, which can answer questions during play, and Likelihood to Win, which uses live match data to offer near real-time predictions. It's a practical example of AI in action, helping fans follow the tournament more closely while showing how organizations can turn data into useful insight. To learn more about how IBM helps create smarter business, visit ibm.com.