Afternoon briefing Tuesday 14th July

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 on Tuesday 14th July. The killing of Anne Whittacombe is now being treated as politically motivated.

0:43Detectives are trying to establish the suspect's views on Reform UK, as well as issues including abortion, gay rights and integration. The legal commentator Joshua Rosenberg has been explaining the process. Once they had arrested the suspect who is in custody, that gave them the power to search his home. And presumably items they found in his home, and you've already referred this morning to what's been reported in the press, will have led them to believe that this was not just a random attack on somebody, but motivated by other causes. The leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, has accepted an offer by the Home Secretary for a meeting with the Home Office unit which works on security for high-profile politicians.

1:31Shabana Mahmood also says the security of non-Westminster politicians needs to be addressed. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby, has told Times Radio that security concerns made her consider leaving politics. I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't think about it on occasion. I certainly thought about it when I was trying to decide whether or not to stand for Parliament in 2024. There's this really concerning climate of abuse and intimidation and violence around those of us who are in public life. South East Water will have to pay£30.5 million for multiple failures over how it serves customers.

2:12The regulator, OffWatt, is also appointing an independent monitor for the company. Times Radio's business correspondent, Dominic O 'Connell, says it's not the same as a fine. This settles three investigations into South East Water going all the way back to 2020. OffWatt found the company had failed to plan sufficiently, hadn't maintained infrastructure and hadn't learnt from the previous incidents. So we've really gone into a bit of a mess. I think South East Water Castle will be quite cynical about this and I think they'll have to wait, well they will want to wait for an actual improvement for whether they judge whether this enforcement action has actually been a success.

2:51The NHS is to give patients wearable monitors, which it says could cut deaths from sepsis by 25 % in a decade, saving 1 ,000 lives a year. 4 ,000 people die of sepsis every 12 months in England and many cases are preventable. The Times' health correspondent Poppy Karonka explains further. Sepsis usually starts with a bacterial infection before developing with more serious symptoms. Making sure patients receive treatment quickly is crucial. Someone's chance of dying from sepsis increases by 8 % every hour treatment is delayed. NHS England hopes that this technology will keep track of patients' blood pressure and heart rate and flag to doctors when someone's condition is deteriorating.

3:30Doctors hope it will be particularly helpful for people who are immunosuppressed, like cancer patients, older people or those with serious mental illnesses. 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.

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